Bumper Cars
by SharonH
Summary: Shea goes to visit her cousin in L.A. to get away from bad memories, and ends up making new friends. She's from an entirely different world from theirs, and they aren't used to having someone so different. not sure if I'm putting romance in this one. if s
1. Chapter 1

She stepped off the plane to see her cousin jumping up and down waving at her. The only way she knew it was her cousin was the photograph they'd exchanged several months before. Shea grinned at the younger girl and headed down the walkway towards her. She and Lillian had started writing to each other several months back. Then they went from snail mail to email and phone calls. It had startled Shea; that first letter she'd received. She'd never been really close with her father's side of the family. She loved them all, of course, but they'd always been in California, and she'd either been in Texas, or then South Dakota. The last time she'd been in California she'd been 8 years old. Lil had been 3, and damn if she hadn't been the cutest thing. Shea was 27 now, and somehow the girl had talked her into coming to California for an extended break. More like a break from a possible breakdown, she thought wryly.

They certainly didn't look like cousins. Lillian was short where Shea was tall; Lil had long dark hair where Shea's was short and blonde. Lillian was a skinny little thing, and Shea could certainly stand to lose about ten to fifteen pounds. Too many therapeutic banana splits lately. Lil's dad was Shea's Uncle Mike, and her mom was Aunt Cat. Lil's mom was from Thailand, which explained Lil's exotic looks.

"Shea!" the younger girl cried happily, and threw her arms around the taller girl. "I'm so happy you're here! Welcome to Los Angeles!"

"Hey Lil." Shea hugged her back warmly. "Glad to be here." They headed towards the baggage claim, and Lil was talking a mile a minute explaining everything they were going to do while Shea was in town.

"Mom is going nuts because you won't stay with us." she said and took a breath.

"Lil, I'll be fine in a hotel. And if I decide to actually stay for the six months, well then I'll want to rent my own place anyway." she told the girl, her tone final. That was definitely something she'd inherited from her father's side. Her stubborness. Rick used to tell her that she was a mule. Nope, not thinking of Rick now are we Shea? She berated herself. Don't be foolish, of course you're going to think about him. Just try to keep it happy.

"Well, let's go check you into your hotel, then we'll go eat with my parents and brother." she told Shea as she led her and her luggage to her white Dodge Neon.

"How is Eric?"

"He thinks he's in love." Lillian said scornfully. "What does he know he's only 19."

Shea hid a grin. "And when do I get to meet this new boyfriend you've been talking about?"

"Probably tonight." the girl sighed. "He's so special Shea. Cute, and hot. And so cool. Jesse is just something else."

"Sounds like it."

They got Shea checked into her hotel and headed to Lillian's house for dinner. Lil was finishing up in college so she still lived there. Shea felt a bit nervous since she hadn't seen the family in forever, and she'd never met Eric, since her Aunt had just begun her pregnancy at that time. She shouldn't have worried though. Dinner was fun, and she enjoyed reconnecting with the family. They asked about her mom and she told them how wonderfully she was doing. They asked about her brother and sister in law. Thankfully, they didn't ask about her Dad. Probably since Uncle Mike talked to him occasionally. Probably more than Shea did.

Ever since her Dad had moved back to Texas, and begun his … different style of living they didn't talk as much. Then again, these days when they talked they got along better. He wasn't always trying to run her life. Shea didn't mention him much to people she worked with or knew either. How easy was it to say, yeah, my Dad, he's a cult leader? Sigh, oh the drama. Eh, at least Shea had a sense of humor, right?

After dinner, and hearing her youngest cousin go on and on about his true love, Brittany, the two girls headed back to Shea's hotel room to get ready. Not really knowing where they were going Shea chose slightly baggy faded jeans and a t-shirt. It was white with black trim on the cuffs and collar. Across the chest it read, 'I don't know what makes you so stupid, but it really works.' It was her favorite shirt, and her brother and sister in law had gotten it for her at Christmas. Lillian on the other hand had decked herself out. The only thing on the girl that wasn't tight and black was the silver necklace that hung between her small breasts. Shea had finished running her hands through her hair, giving it the normal tousled look. She'd made sure to emphasize her eyes, she liked them, but she only put gloss on her lips. Shea hated her lips, she thought they were too big.

Lil sighed looking from her breasts to Shea's. "Why couldn't I have some of yours?"

Shea laughed. "Big boobs aren't that great. My back hurts all the time, and normally instead of talking to me, guys talk to my boobs."

"I don't even need big boobs. Just half of one of yours would work."

"Oh, they aren't that big Lil. And yours aren't that small."

They headed out shortly after that. Their first stop was a club called 310 Lounge, but Shea didn't think much of it. It was ultra chic, but everyone seemed fake. They ended up at some place called Sins. Lil told Shea it was new and it was both a pool hall and a dance club. Shea just shrugged. They walked in and Shea knew she'd like it better than the last place. Not only were there at least a dozen pool tables, and a good size dance floor, but the people… the people here were real. They were an eclectic mix. There were some preppies, there were bikers, goth, and punks combined. She was pretty sure that there was a group in the very corner that were all stoned out of their minds.

"Oh, there's Jesse." Lil whispered excitedly. She pointed a raggedy bunch out to Shea. Lil's Jesse was in a white t-shirt and baggy ass jeans that hung low on his short wiry frame. He was cute enough she supposed. There were two large guys in the group. One was Mr. Universe with all of his frigging muscles and shaved head, and the other was not quite as muscular, with short dark hair that looked like it would curl if left to it's own devices. That guy looked like he hadn't shaved in a week. Those two guys were wearing tank tops and khakis, which were similar to Jesse's and were baggy. A tall blonde man was currently talking to Mr. Clean, er, the bald guy. That guy was wearing jeans and an old concert t shirt. Metallica, nice. He was very attractive, but he had a pretty boy face. He reminded her slightly of Rick. There were two women already with the group and they were whispering together. Both were beautiful, and both were exotic, maybe Hispanic, something like that. Wouldn't surprise her being this far south. Not that it mattered. They were dressed similar to Lil, only … not so much. There were some other people that joined them, and they all seemed to know each other.

"Why don't you join your friends, and I'll go get some drinks?" Shea told her cousin. Lil was practically jumping out of her pants in excitement.

"Oh, thanks Shea. Get me a Bud Light?" she said and headed quickly in that direction. Shea shook her head slightly and headed to the bar. She squeezed her way into a spot between another bald guy, this one Hispanic, and a guy in a basketball jersey. The Hispanic guy was cute with a goatee. The other guy was cute too, with a buzz cut and pretty green eyes.

"Well, hi there Mami." goatee said giving her a smile. She smiled back slightly, not wanting to seem too friendly. "Where did you come from?" he said checking her out.

Guess he likes women with hips she thought. "The airport?" At this Buzz started laughing.

"Maybe I should be going to the airport more often then if there's class acts like you there." goatee grinned.

The bartender looked at Shea, "What ya need?"

"I need a Bud Light, a Corona extra lime, and one, no make that two shots of Cuervo." She turned back to goatee. "Tell me, does that line actually work?" she grinned to lighten her words.

He shrugged, "Sometimes, if the girl ain't that smart." Then he grinned. "Name's Hector."

"Shea. Nice to meet you Hector." The bartender brought out the drinks, Shea threw down some money, making sure to leave a good tip, and downed one of the shots immediately.

"Nice." Buzz said when she didn't even gasp or cough.

She looked at him, "I have a feeling I'm going to need it. I don't think I'm in Kansas anymore Toto." She slammed the second shot, and picked up the two beers, noticing the two limes in her Corona. Very nice.

Hector laughed and threw his arm around her shoulders. "I love this woman Leon. She's spunky."

"Watch where that hand goes buddy, any lower and I bite." she said eying his hand a few inches from her chest. This made Leon laugh again.

"Mami, you hurt me, I'll behave. Just tell me where to escort your loveliness to."

"Does he think that line will work?" She asked Buzz, or Leon as Hector had referred to him.

"He just keeps hoping."

"You're killing me here Shea." Hector said frowning.

"I need to go to that table over there." she said pointing to where Lil was talking to the two girls.

"Team Toretto? You don't look like a racer chaser?"

Shea found both men looking at her curiously. "Team a what? Racer what? Dude, I have no fucking clue as to what language you're speaking, but that's my cousin, and she dragged me here. Her Bud Light."

They moved forward as a group again. "You're Lil's cousin?" Leon asked. "From South Dakota."

"That would be me. In theory perhaps. I mean, technically I live in South Dakota, but I'm from Texas."

They joined the group and Lil squealed. Again. Did I sound like that when I was 22? Shea asked herself. "Shea you found Leon, and Hector."

Hector spoke before Shea could. "We've got to keep this one around. She's got a tongue on her."

"Just not the type of tongue he's looking for." Shea added with a snicker.

"Ay, Mami, you're killing me." he whined slightly. Again Leon just laughed.

Lil looked puzzled but shook it off. She introduced the group to Shea quickly. Mr Clean turned out to be Dominic Toretto, or Dom, he was in charge of Team whatsoever. The two girls were his sister, the taller more willowy one, and his girlfriend, the shorter tougher looking one. That one didn't seem so friendly. In fact the more Shea looked at the scowling girl she thought she should come with a sign that said Beware of Rabid Girl. The other Mr. Muscles was Vince, who they kept referring to as Coyote, which made her snicker remembering some friends of hers that gave everyone animal names. Gibby would have loved these people. The blonde guy was Brian, he was with Mia, and then there were Jesse and Leon.

"So, Shea, how long are you here for?" Dom asked. She liked his voice it was deep and gravelly.

"Not real sure yet. At least a week or two." she answered honestly.

"I'm trying to talk her into staying the entire six months she has off." Lil told the group. Shea had to admit, Lil and Jesse looked great together. Both just as cute as a button.

"Six months off from work? That's where I need to work." Leon said.

"I can arrange that." Dom threatened.

"Leon, Jesse, Vince, Brian, and Letty work for Dom at his garage." Lil explained. "Mia runs their family store."

"Nice." Shea said. "We had a family store a few years back. It was a good time working together, of course thinking about it, it kind of sucked too."

"So why'd you get six months off from work?" Dom asked, still trying to get more information on this person if she was going to be spending any amount of time around them, and it seemed she would be since Jesse was all crazy over Lillian. "You're not an undercover cop are you?"

As soon as he said this both Shea and Brian choked on their drinks. "God Dom." Brian gasped.

Once she could speak clearly she snorted. "Um, no, not a cop. Although I do have a degree in Criminal Justice, thought about going into Law School." she mused and shrugged. "No, six months ago my fiancé was killed. He was a correctional officer at the Prison in town, and there was a riot. He and two other officers were killed due to a mistake made by a police officer bringing in an inmate. Anyway, I had some issues dealing, so they put me on disability. But I don't have a problem with cops. Known some good ones, known some bad ones. Most of them like me so I don't worry." there was a small smile on her face.

"They like you?" Mia asked.

"Rick used to tell me it's my super power. I've always been able to stay out of trouble. Hey I use the abilities I have."

The table was silent for a minute, then Dom's voice boomed out. "Let's do shots."

Four shots later Shea was getting a good buzz and was shooting pool with Leon and Vince. Vince didn't really speak much, except for an occasional growl at Leon. They were playing cut throat, and Shea was winning.

Leon took his shot and missed. "How did I miss that? And how are you beating me? You've had more to drink."

"Leon, Leon, Leon. I'm older than you are. Been drinking and playing pool for a long time." she told him as she surveyed the table. She was one through five, and still had three balls on the table. "Nine, corner pocket." she shot knocking the ball in, and Vince out of the game. He just scowled slightly and sat heavily on his stool.

Leon snickered and tried to hit her three in. 'Better than You' by Metallica started playing.

"Fuckin A yes!" Shea grinned. This was Shea's music. The music she'd rebelled to in her youth. Rock; hard rock; real rock. She loved rap, loved hip hop. Hell she loved almost everything, but Metallica was the shit! She quickly cleared Leon's last two balls, and then proceeded to put hers in just for the practice.

"Yo, girlie, you wanna groove." One of the guys hanging out with the stoners and the bikers had approached. His long black hair hung down his back. He was good looking, and his arms were sleeved out in tattoos. He was lean and wiry.

"Sure." she wiggled her eyebrows at Leon and Vince, and headed to the small dance floor. There weren't too many people dancing.

Lil looked worried. "I'm not so sure Shea should be dancing with that guy. He's scary."

"We'll keep an eye on her Lil." Jesse assured her.

Shea loved dancing. She might be a bigger girl, but she knew how to shake it. They danced for several songs and it seemed the hard rock kept playing. Finally, their luck played out and they headed off the floor as some teeny bopper shit played.

When she got back to the table she grabbed Vince's shot before he could drink it, and slammed it down. "Sorry." she told him unrepentantly, and motioned for the waitress to bring more. "Oh shit, Lil, what's going on tomorrow night?"

"The races."

"Ok, I'll be a teensy bit late to that then."

"No, Shea, you can't. They're the coolest!" Lil said bummed. "Where are you going?"

"Don't worry Lil, I'll be there, just a little late." Shea said. "I sort of got invited to a concert.'

The bikers were leaving and the one Shea had danced with stopped by the table, making all the guys posture a bit. "See you tomorrow night Sugar." he told her with a wink, and a slap on the butt.

The three girls looked at her in shock. "You're going out with that guy?" Mia whispered.

"Sure. He's taking me to see Velvet Revolver who're doing some special show. I fucking love Velvet Revolver." she shrugged. Her cell phone rang and she looked to see who it was. "Oh shit! Hey Pete. I'm so sorry, I forgot to call to tell you I got here. Yeah Lillian is good. So are Uncle Mike and Aunt Cat. Yep Eric too. Dude, I'm having a blast. Oh, and I'm going to a concert tomorrow night. His name's Spider."

Spider, Lil mouthed to Jesse. 

"Pete, quit being the proverbial older brother. I'll be fine. Hug Rose for me. Yes Pete, I'll call you Sunday. Love you too." she looked at the group, who still looked shocked at 'Spider' stopping by their table. "My big brother. Thinks I'm still 16 at times."

"Ok now Mami, you have to tell me what that guy had over me?" Hector started.

She leaned close to Hector and put her hand on his cheek. "Tickets to Velvet Revolver." Everyone laughed at this. "Come on Hector, let's go shimmy to the music." Hip hop was playing again, so she dragged Hector out to the floor. Outcast's 'I Like the Way You Move'. 


	2. Chapter 2

The next night came and it was time for their weekly street racing. Lil kept looking anxiously around hoping for Shea to get there before anything started. Finally close to midnight a motorcycle rumbled up and Shea hopped off. She took off the helmet she was wearing and handed it back to Spider. "Thanks Dude. That was fucking awesome." She kissed him quickly on the lips, and smiling he turned and drove away. Shea walked quickly over to Lil. Once again Lil was dressed to impress. Shea on the other hand had worn more jeans, this time they rode lower on her hips, and she wore her Metallica beater. Her make up was a little darker seeing as she'd had the concert. Most of the girls were a bit more risqué, or half naked, whatever.

Shea looked around the cars parked in various positions to show off. Lillian dragged her over to Dom's team immediately. "Hey Shea!" Mia said with a big smile. Letty didn't seem as disgruntled with her as she had been the night before. However she was eying another blonde with quite a bit of venom. The blonde was currently trying to plaster her body against Dom's. From what Shea had heard at the bar the night before there had been some unfaithfulness between the couple in the past, in not so nice terms Dom had cheated his ass off. But there had obviously been an incident that had changed all of them somehow. Letty looked like she was about to blow now though. Well, Shea knew something that would help, so she'd help.

Shea walked over to Letty, and said something low enough for only her to hear. "That's the best guy in drag I've ever seen." Letty burst out laughing, which drew Dom's attention to her. He pushed past the blonde, and wrapped his arms around Letty.

"What are you laughing about?"

Letty's eyes sparkled, making her even prettier. "I like this girl Dom. I think we should keep her." Dom looked startled at that. It wasn't often Letty liked anyone, much less other girls.

He nodded, "We'll have to look into that. How was your concert?" he said directly to Shea.

"It was awesome." she grinned. "Excuse me a minute would ya?" Dom watched as she walked over to the chaser that had been trying to get his attention. She said something to the girl, and the blonde paled a bit. Then Shea said something else, and the girl turned beet red, threw her head into the air, and stormed off. Shea walked back over to the group. "I guess she was sensitive." Letty snickered, and Dom felt like he missed something.

"Shea, you got tattoos?" Leon looked shocked. Sort of like someone must have just slapped them on her.

"Oh my God, where did these come from!" she shouted looking startled. He stared at her, and she just looked at him. "A lot of people have tattoos Leon." she said.

"Yeah, but you're so…." he stopped as she narrowed her eyes at him.

"So Shea." Jesse spoke. It kind of startled her. He seemed like a nice enough guy, but he seemed well, she hated to think mean things, but he seemed sort of spastic. "You ever been to races before?"

"No, the closest I've ever been to was a big truck show, a crash derby, and I guess I did go to a local track race in Iowa once, with Rick's family."

"So Shea, you're a virgin then?" Leon grinned.

"Well, Leon, I guess when it comes to this, yes I am." She quirked an eyebrow at him. "Heh, that's the first time I've heard Shea and virgin in the same sentence in a long time."

"Mami, you're going to stop my heart with talk like that." Hector said coming up behind her. "And that top, why didn't you wear that last night?"

"Hector, are you always a hornball?"

He seemed to think about it for a minute. "Yes."

"Don't ever change Hector." She laughed. "You're still not getting any though."

Shea watched the expensive cars set up to race. She wasn't going to tell these people, since they were so serious about all of this, but back home when she'd see the little cars all set up with the undercarriage neon lights, and revving their engines; she'd laugh at the little idiots. It did seem like here it was different though. These people weren't the little teenagers that raced around trying to look like hot shit in the small streets of Sioux Falls while they headed to the frigging mall before curfew. She wasn't paying very close attention, but knew every time one of Lil's friends won. Lil would give this cry that seemed like it would shatter Shea's eardrums.

The races were almost over when the cry came out that cops were on their way. Even Shea knew that wasn't good. She'd been hanging out with Leon when he went on the walkies to tell everyone. Lil jumped in Jesse's car and they sped away. She and Leon got back to the house first, and he took her inside. He started going around turning on lights, so she helped, and cranked up the stereo. He looked at her with approval.

She shrugged, "Well I'm assuming we're trying to make it appear we've been here all night?"

Others started showing up quickly after that. Lil looked relieved to see Shea already there. The party was slamming by the time that Dom got home, and Letty jumped him as soon as he opened the door. The blonde from the races was there, and Shea saw her luring Vince in. Shea sighed; time to head to the rescue before someone gets killed. "Hey Vince." she called.

"Yo." he answered without taking his eyes off the blonde. Shea pulled on his shirt.

"Vince. Can you find me some playing cards?" she said sweetly.

Vince sighed, a bit disgruntled. "Fine. Follow me." Shea followed him upstairs, and into the room Jesse had.

"Yo dude. Seriously I do want the cards, but I don't think you want that blonde."

He looked at her suspiciously. "What do you mean?"

"She was hittin Dom up earlier. She's a tri pod. Special parts. Used the little boy's room as a child. She's a he." Shea thought she was going to have to draw him a frigging picture, but he seemed to get the point. Finally. And almost literally, she almost giggled at her own joke.He paled considerably.

"How do you know?" he whispered.

"Dude!" she said. "One of my best buds is gay. I go to a lot of drag shows. Granted she's good, but not that good. How drunk are you?"

Vince sat down quickly on Jesse's bed. Shea patted his hand. "It's ok there tiger. There are plenty of little girls down there you can get busy with tonight. Don't worry about it."

"I'm gonna fucking kill that guy." Fury was evident in his voice and he stood up.

Shea placed her hands on his chest. "Now Vince, I didn't tell you to piss you off. I already warned Leon, and just wanted to make sure you were covered since she, he, whatever seems to be gunning for Team testosterone, Toretto, whatever. Now, listen to Auntie Shea. You're going back down there, ignoring the blonde, and finding some other girl to do your whole caveman thing with." He looked at her blankly.

"Who ARE you?" he said. This girl made no sense to him at all. "Why aren't you trying to get into someone's pants?" He was suspicious again.

Shea laughed delightedly. "Me? Please, there are so many reasons."

Vince leaned against the wall waiting.

Shea sighed. "One, I lost the man I thought I was going to marry six months ago. Trying to move somewhat slowly here. Although, that might not be the best reason." she addedas an afterthought,chewing on her bottom lip."Two, do I look like any of those girls down there? There is a bit more meat on my bones thanthree of those girls put together. Three, I know nothing about what you people do. Know nothing about cars, nothing about racing. I stick with what I know. Four, I'm older than most of the guys down there. I'm 27 years old and Rick was younger than me. Looking back, seeing the problems we had, trying not to go that route again." She grabbed the cards and pushed past Vince.

As soon as she got downstairs the blonde made a beeline for Vince, who made a beeline for Leon and the girls he was chatting up. The blonde looked over to Shea angrily, and stalked over to her. "Can I talk to you outside please?"

"Sure." Shea said, dropping the cards on the table, and following the girl outside to the back. Lil looked worried, so Vince and Leon headed around back to eavesdrop. They knew if something happened to her cousin she'd never shut up. Although it seemed to them the older girl could take care of herself.

"What is your problem?" the blonde asked Shea angrily.

"What's your name?"

"Teena."

"No, TEENA, what's your real name?"

The blonde thought about it for a minute. Vince seemed to think that this meant Shea had been wrong, but finally the blonde spoke. "Kyle." Leon and Vince both shivered.

"It's nice to meet you Kyle. Now let me ask you something. What do you think any of those guys would have done if they figured out you were a guy?"

"They wouldn't have found out if you hadn't done or said something." Kyle/Teena snapped.

"Teena. Please. Did you think any of those guys looked like the type to mess around, play touchy feely, and not have sex before it was all done? Are you on crack?" Seriously, Shea was starting to wonder.

Kyle/Teena sighed.

"Look, they're all nice guys. Every one of them that I've met so far..amazingly nice guys. Which I'll admit, sort of surprises me with the whole testosterone thing raging, but from what I understand, they're all man-whores. They'd figure it out pretty quick there Teena, and they'd kick your ass for lying to them, and putting them in that position. And those guys are fucking huge. It would hurt badly."

Teenasat on the bumper of a car, and Shea sat next to him, er, her. "I normally don't mess with straight guys. They're just trouble."

"I know, trust me." Shea agreed; rubbing Kyle/Teena's shoulder for comfort. "It's easier to mess with gay guys. They're almost perfect except for that one little flaw."

"But those guys on Team Toretto, are just SO hot. It's hard to resist any of them."

"I know Teena, trust me. It's been a while for me. Then to be surrounded by all that prime masculinity. But you need to Teena, you need to resist. Hang out, be friends, but fuckingANY of those men, as pleasant as it sounds, is just the thing to get girls like us in trouble."

"Thank you so much--"

"Shea."

"Shea, thanks. Are you new around here?"

"Just in town a little while actually."

"Maybe we could hang out before you go home? You just seem so nice. Not like most of the other girls around here."

"Sounds good Teena. We'll go party sometime."

The two headed inside, and Vince caught Shea's arm, "Man-whores?" he said highly insulted. Leon was scowling behind him.

She shrugged, "Would you have preferred He-Sluts? Boy-tramps? Gigolos? It's not like I'm deaf. I heard you and Leon talking about what girls you could take and which ones you've already had. I'm not saying it makes you bad guys. Just not the type of guy that girl is looking for. In more ways than one." She chuckled.

"So now you're best fucking friends?"

"She's a nice girl." Shea shrugged.

Vince looked like his eyes were going to pop out of his head, and was about to say something when he looked past her. "Shit, Cops! They always fucking come here." Well, duh, Shea thought, have you looked at what's inyour frigging driveway?

It seemed like no one was going to answer the door. Good lord, these people needed a frigging keeper. Shea had known them maybe 24 hours, and she was opening the door now? Opening it she pasted on her pretty smile. "Hello officers, did we get a noise complaint? I'm so sorry, I'll tell them to turn it down." she turned to head back in.

"Oh, no. No ma'am." the officer said a bit surprised. They'd been by this house many times on race nights. This girl was a new one, and she looked normal. Not all scantily clad like most of the girls. "We had some street racing earlier tonight, and some of the cars parked out here resemble the cars reported in that racing."

"Seriously? That's funny. Back home the cars you normally see are pick up trucks, so those kinds of cars stick out. Here it seems like these exotic cars are a dime a dozen."

"That's true enough Ma'am." the officer chuckled. "So you're saying that everyone's been here all night."

"Well, no. Most of us were at the Velvet Revolver concert earlier, but we got here shortly before midnight." Since the races didn't start until after midnight, she didn't feel she was lying… Completely... Sort of. "I just got into town yesterday, and my friends here were throwing me a welcome to town party."

"Oh, where are you from Ma'am?" both the cops were young, maybe Shea's age or younger.

Shea walked out the door closer to the two, and smiled. "I'm in from Sioux Falls, South Dakota."

She kept them talking for several minutes. They asked to see her driver's license, and they showed her theirs because she wanted to see the differences. They finally left laughing, and one of the cops had her number at the hotel.

She walked back into the house to complete silence. "What?"

"Did you just make a date with one of those cops Shea?" Letty asked flabbergasted.

"No," she said and squirmed a little. "I gave him my phone number so he could call me for a date."

Silence ensued, and suddenly Dom started laughing deeply. "That was awesome." he said wiping a tear from his eyes. "I think you're right Letty, we have to keep this one."


	3. Chapter 3

The two weeks had passed of Shea's vacation, and she hadn't come any closer to deciding whether or not to stay the six months or go home. She knew she needed to decide. She'd really had a great time with her family, and Lil's friends. Vince was still gruff, but then he didn't seem like the BFF type of guy, and Shea saw Letty look at her sometimes like she thought Shea might suddenly decide to jump Dom, but overall they all got along well. If she did decide to stay though, she would need to rent a place, and that meant she'd have to commit to a lease. She'd have to get a car, and a job. Bah.

It was morning and Shea put on her rattiest sweat pants and t-shirt. Shortly after Rick had died she'd started to jog. She hated every minute of it, but everyone told her how good it was for her. So she ran; she ran and despised it. Maybe she'd run to the Baskin-Robbins today, she thought nastily. She was sure there were at least half of the thirty one flavors she hadn't tried yet. Shea was also pretty sure that they had more than thirty one flavors by now. It was Saturday so she was supposed to be going out with Spider that night; then meeting everyone at the races.

Lil was bound and determined that Shea was going to figure racing out by the time she went home. Shea hated to tell her, but it wasn't going to happen. She was sure it was all interesting, and stuff, but she just wasn't into cars. It was similar to Spider and his friends always talking about bikes. Yeah, no clue there either. She knew they looked cool, and they made the guys extremely happy. Other than that, why did she need to know more? Probably not very open minded of her.

Shea was a people person. That was why she'd gotten a minor in psychology. Not that she used either of her degrees. Her job was in the accounting department of an insurance brokerage. Little Miss Professional. Her outer appearance was perfectly calm; perfectly business like. Everyone thought she had it together. That she was this pleasant person, who got along with everyone, and did everything just right. Inside however, that was something different. If they only knew that if she wasn't taking her medicine it would be a whole different world for her, and essentially for them. It had taken a long time, and several combinations before they'd found the right match in anti depressants. Thinking back she could certainly remember the fights she had with Rick; the irrationality and insecurities that would rear their ugly heads. The doctors called it severe depression. She called it insanity. Shea knew she was psycho.

Lil just didn't seem to get that Shea's world was just so vastly different from Lil and her friends world. Although, she had to admit, they were a lot of fun. Shea had always hung out with various groups though. She was the person who was the middle; the person who flit from group to group. Not really deep inside of any group. Loved by most, but not known by any. There was only one friend from her childhood she still had in her life. Kelly was an attorney in Houston, and they'd been friends since grade school. Shea talked to her at least once a week. Kell was the only person Shea had told about her problems with Rick. She was the only person who knew that there might not (most probably would not) be a wedding.

Shea shook off her melancholy and reminded herself to take her drugs when she got back to the room. She'd have to watch how much she'd been drinking too. It wasn't a good idea to mix that shit. Another reason she had to decide soon. She had to think about the possibility of refills, and they'd want her to find a doctor around here. Looking at her watch she muttered a curse, and hauled ass back to the hotel to get ready for Lil to pick her up. She wanted to take her by Dom's garage before Shea had to get ready for her date. She showered quickly pulling on denim shorts, sandals, and a spaghetti strap tank. Forgoing make up since she'd be putting some on later, she was ready to go.

They pulled up to the garage and Lil looked at Shea expectantly. "It's…. nice."

Lil smiled, obviously happy with that. They got out of the car, and headed to the open doors. Jesse came running out almost immediately, making Shea think he'd been waiting on them. She looked away as they swapped spit. The rest of the guys headed out towards them.

"You ladies are lucky it's a slow day for us." Dom said with a smile.

"Hey Shea." Letty smirked seeing Shea looking everywhere but at her cousin and Jesse.

"Get a room." Leon told the couple, and they broke apart. "Come here Shea, I wanna show you the engine I'm working on."

Shea walked towards the guy with a sigh. She knew he was trying to include her. She found herself looking inside a hood. It looked big, metal, and dirty to her. Why had she worn a white shirt? "That's very nice Leon."

He looked crestfallen. "You don't even know what it is; do you?"

Shea took a closer look. "Well, I think that's the radiator, and I'm almost positive that's a battery." When he didn't look any happier she patted his shoulder. "Sorry Leon. Cars just aren't my thing." She moved away from the car gingerly like it might jump at her at any moment. Vince was just shaking his head in disgust.

"Don't you know anything about cars?" he said.

"Well, I know that when the tire's flat you change it, and normally there's this little spare in the trunk that people call a donut. You change your oil every three months or three thousand miles, and the pedal to the right is go, the pedal to the left is stop. Unless you're driving stick, then the pedal to the left is the clutch, and the pedal in the middle is the stop." The crew groaned.

"We'll get you driving yet Shea." Dom said with certainty.

"Oh Dom." She shook her head. "You guys love your cars, I would never do that to any of you."

"What do ya mean?" Letty laughed. "Come on, I'll let you drive my car right now."

Shea stepped back and put her hands behind her back, constantly shaking her head. "Letty, I appreciate the trust, you have no idea how much. But no."

"Oh come on."

"No, seriously. I'm better at bumper cars. And sometimes that isn't even when I'm in the bumper cars." Letty's hand with the keys in it lowered. "Yeah, it's like I'm a magnet for car accidents."

"Well, everyone has accidents Shea." Jesse said encouragingly.

"I've had nine. Since I turned 16 and started driving. I've had nine. I'm only 27. That averages to almost one a year." She almost laughed when they all took a step back as if in fear. "Dude, I wouldn't worry, I don't think it's catching."

"She ain't driving my car." Leon said to the group. "No offense Shea."

"None taken." She waved it off. "I told you so."

"I'm sure we'll be able to make a racer out of you." Dom said, not quite as confident.

"Lil, I think we should go. I have to get ready for my date with Spider."

"A second date with Spider heh?" Letty teased.

"A fourth date with Spider." Shea grinned and wiggled her eyebrows seeing Letty's mouth snap closed.

Later that night Spider brought her up to the cars on his bike. She hopped off and handed him his helmet. He pulled her against his chest and started kissing her. They finally broke apart; he grinned, and drove away.

Letty, Mia, and Lil started sounding off catcalls behind her. "Shut up." she turned with a laugh.

"So, uh, Shea?"

"Yes Letty." she asked with a pink face.

"Does Spider still have his tonsils?" she laughed as Shea's faced turned a darker red.

She sat with Mia while the others raced, and the only one who didn't win was Brian. Which Mia assured her was a rarity. Shea loved watching the two together. It was so obvious they loved each other, and from what she'd been able to piece together so far they'd overcome quite a bit to be together. Not limited to, but including Brian losing his job as a detective.

Once the races were over, without the cops showing up, they all headed back to the Toretto home. Shea had grabbed a beer and was on her way back to the living room when she noticed Mia, Letty, and Lil whispering and looking at her occasionally. She sighed and headed back to the living room. "What?" she stood facing the three.

Letty pulled her down between her and Mia on the couch. "So your two weeks are done. Do you know what you're gonna do?"

"Not really." Shea said without looking at them. "If I go, I'll have to leave next Friday. If I stay that gives me this week to find a car, a part time job, and a place to live."

"Don't ya wanna stay Shea?" Mia asked.

"Yeah, I mean, Mom and Dad love you being around." Lil piped in.

Shea was touched that they wanted her around. "I'm thinking about it. Shit, what time is it?" looking at her watch, she realized she needed to call Kell. She headed to the back picnic table where it wasn't so loud. The phone only rang twice before it was answered.

"Shea! I thought you forgot about me." the girl giggled.

"Impossible, how on earth could I forget my best bud?"

"What's up? Are you at another party?"

"Yeah, you on your way home from another happy hour?" the two laughed.

"What's up Shea, you seem, I don't know, weird?"

"Well, I'm always weird Kell."

"You know what I mean."

"I know." Shea sighed. "They want me to stay here for the six months."

"Well that's great, I mean I'd prefer you here for six months, but that's not going to happen, so why not stay?"

"I don't know. I keep thinking I should go back. Start living again. Kell, it doesn't hurt anymore, Rick being dead. That doesn't hurt anymore. I thought for a long time I was going to marry him. Shouldn't it still hurt? Does it make me a bitch because it doesn't?"

"Shea, he broke your heart. Are you telling me you would have still married him?"

"Ok, no. I wouldn't have married him. We were breaking up. I keep thinking of Amanda. I'll bet she's still hurting." she almost whispered.

"Ah, Shea."

"Kell, I swear I'm taking my meds, but if I stayed here… What would I do? Would I be living? Or would I be in purgatory waiting for life to resume? And if I went back, I'd have to see Amanda every Sunday. I'm torn."

"Shea, that's what you can't be. You have to make a decision. I don't think going back and seeing Amanda eight months pregnant with your fiancé's baby is a good idea."

Shea was silent, "Wow, Kell, direct hit."

"I'm sorry babe."

"No, you're right… Kell, I don't think I'll ever trust another guy." she whispered.

"You will. Rick just turned out to be a lot more tarnished than we thought."

"Well, it isn't like I was a sweet little princess to live with." she laughed derisively. "We both know I'm a fucking fruitcake."

"I love you Shea."

"I love you too little sister."

"Please I'm older." Kell snorted.

"Yeah, but you're so fucking short." they hung up laughing.

Shea stared at the ground remembering the day Amanda had come to her. Told her she was pregnant and Rick was the father. She could only stand there dumbfounded. Amanda had cried telling her she loved Rick, and Rick loved her, and wouldn't Shea step gracefully out of the way so they could be together. Shea had wanted to hit the smaller girl so badly, but she couldn't . She couldn't hit a pregnant girl. She sure as hell couldn't hit her pregnant sister. She hadn't spoken to Amanda since. Not even at Rick's funeral. Shea knew that Pete was talking to her again, but it was hard for him. He didn't want to betray Shea, but he didn't know how not to be there for Amanda when she so obviously needed help.

Why am I thinking about all this? She thought to herself. Well duh retard. Obviously you're weighing the options of staying here or going back. Wouldn't that be so sweet, she thought bitterly, Auntie Shea to Amanda and Rick's child? Just another betrayal. Rick had told her he didn't want children. Hell, he hadn't even wanted a dog. Even though she'd wanted babies badly, she'd been willing to give that up. She was fucking dumb, she told herself. Never again. Never again.

"You coming back inside?" Dom asked her from the doorway. He'd been watching her for awhile. He'd heard most of her conversation with her friend. It seemed there was more than fun and sunshine to their new friend. Wasn't too much of a surprise though. Everyone had something that didn't fit. "They're wanting to play cards." Maybe Let's right. Maybe we need to keep this one with us. The two walked back inside and headed to the living room. Most of the people had gone, leaving a few stragglers, Lil, Shea, and Team Toretto. Letty caught his eye, and he nodded slightly. She smiled and her whole face lit up. He'd made her happy. Ah, his beautiful Letty, how he'd almost ruined that.

Not again though. The group spent the rest of the evening playing nickel poker and laughing. 


	4. Chapter 4

The group got together for a barbeque the next day. The guys were teasing Shea.

"Shut up Vince!" she said, her face flushing.

"It was just a fucking spider." he prodded.

"It was a massively HUGE spider Vince." she told him, her eyes wide. "It could have ripped my head off with all eight of it's fucking legs!"

"But you jumped the table Shea." Leon added with a snicker.

"It's true." Jesse said with a bit of awe. "I have never seen anyone move that fast to get away from something. I think you'd have beaten Dom in his car."

"Ha ha." she grimaced. "Haven't you ever read The Lord of the Rings? Shelob. That spider last night, could have taken Shelob to the fucking cleaners." At this Mia and Letty burst out laughing.

"Oh girl, you should have seen it when Dom said look at that spider." Letty snorted. "You moved across that table, over Vince, and across the room like you were flying."

"You know what kills me?" Mia choked out between chortles of laughter. "She's dating a guy named Spider."

"You guys are real frigging comedians." she wished he'd never seen the damn thing. Could she help it that her biggest fear, next to falling, was spiders. They were just….creepy.

"Now, now. Everyone give Shea a break, or she won't come visit us anymore. Or heaven forbid she won't stay past Friday."

Shea sat up smugly, as if to say Yeah take that! Then she sighed, "I don't know. I haven't decided yet. I know what other people are telling me I should do. Like Kell and Pete, but I don't know. If I rent a place I have to sign a lease, but then what if I change my mind later and want to leave. I'll have to keep thinking on it." She knew it wasn't the answer they wanted, but it was the best she could do.

"What are Kell and Pete telling you to do?" Jesse asked.

"They think I should settle in for a few months, work on my tan, and head back worry free."

Dom looked at her. Before she and Lil had arrived for the meal, he'd gotten the team together and they'd talked about it. They still had the money from the heists, so they weren't lacking in funds. They'd formulated a game plan, and surprisingly everyone had been in agreement with Dom. "Well, see, we were thinking."

"All of us, not just Dom." Leon added. The others nodded in agreement.

"We were thinking that if you rented a room in the house here then you wouldn't have to sign a lease." Before she could interject he continued. "We were also thinking that since you have experience in accounting, for a part time job you could work at the store and in the shop in the office. We hate the books." There were more nods to this. "That just leaves you worrying about transportation."

Shea looked at them. She'd only known these people for two weeks, were they for real? It sounded good. She would just have to worry about a car, setting up a new doctor, and getting Pete to send some of her stuff to her. Their plan certainly gave her the out she needed if she needed one. "Give me tonight to think about it. I'll give you an answer tomorrow." The group smiled at her. They couldn't imagine her telling them no. "First though you have to know. I'm not the easiest to live with. I suffer from severe depression. If I'm off my meds more than two days. I'm a nutball."

"Well, we'll be there to make sure you don't go off your meds." Mia smiled.

When Shea got back to the hotel room that night, she sat in the middle of the bed and looked around. Funny how a place could grow on you in so short a time. Los Angeles, not the hotel room. It was funny that when she'd come here as a kid she'd hated it. Now she was here, and it felt… nice. Sometimes it seemed too big, and too busy, but most of that probably came from the fact that she'd lived in a smaller city for six years. Her new friends had really thrown her for a loop tonight. Never had anybody gone out of their way to make her feel like she was so wanted.

Hell, she'd had to fight tooth and nail to get Rick to even date her. She should have never put so much effort into it. Thinking about it, why had he even given in? She'd been close to giving up when he had. Obviously he'd wanted to stay close to Amanda, she told herself bitterly. Why he couldn't have just said, Sorry Shea, I want to bone your sister. Stop thinking about it, she screamed inside.

That's it. She was going to stay. Shea was staying in Los Angeles, and she was going to enjoy every moment there come hell or high water. She finally went to sleep, and slept better than she had in six months.

The first thing she did in the morning was to call her brother and tell him she was staying. He seemed relieved, but told her he really missed her. Then she called Kell, who promised she'd be coming for a visit before the six months was up. Shea's next action was to run. She wanted to get the worst part of the day over with, and she'd pick up a paper on her way back to the hotel. Really though, if she was going to keep running, she should give up some of the ice cream. Sure some of her fat was turning to muscle, but the ice cream didn't help anything. She snorted in laughter, yeah right, she'd give up her ice cream when hell froze over. Then she'd go for warm steamy pecan pie and hot cocoa. Shea wasn't skinny, and she didn't give a damn.

Once she got back to her hotel room she made a few calls. Her doctor said she'd set up and appointment with a noted doctor in L.A., and she'd send her some samples of her pills to get her through. God she loved Dr. Walton. Looking through the paper she found a car that looked promising, so she caught a cab to the address.

It was a black 2000 Chevrolet Convertible Cavalier. It was their son's car and he'd headed off to college, and purchased a car there, so they wanted to get rid of it. They were only asking $4000 for it, so before she knew they were signing over the title and she was giving them the money. How about that, Rick had been good for something. She'd been the beneficiary on both of his insurance policies, so she'd kept the small one, hell she'd worked while he went to school, and she'd signed the larger one over to be put into trust for Amanda's child. Once the baby was born she'd sign the final documents and that would be that.

She drove her new car around the city for a while before finally pulling into the parking area at DT's. "Hey," she announced loudly, "Where can I go to get a decent oil change around here?"

Letty came scowling out of the back but smiled once she saw who it was. "Shea what the hell, you know you can get your oil changed here."

Letty took in the smile on Shea's face, and the fact she was leaning against the car. "OMIGOD! You bought a car! You're staying!" she practically screamed and jumped on Shea. Both women went flying into the back of the open convertible.

"What the hell?" Leon frowned slightly only seeing legs sticking out the car in front of him, and hearing Letty laughing hysterically.

Letty poked her head up, the other guys were already starting to saunter out. "Shea is staying!"

Everyone seemed pleased, and helped Shea get Letty off of her.

Dom nodded at Shea with a smile. "When you movin in?"

Shea looked at the large man in front of her. She knew he was close in age to her. So when had he become an older brother like Pete? Only not so much. Pete had grown up in South Dakota while Shea had grown up in Texas, so while he was her older brother, most of the time they seemed more buddies than the typical older brother little sister relationship. He had that mostly with Amanda. With Dom though, he seemed to have the role down pat. "Tomorrow? We need to discuss rent too."

Dom nodded again. "Yeah, and salary."

The first few days of living with the Toretto clan were different to say the least. It had been a long time since Shea had lived with others. Before it had only been Rick, and then they'd worked different shifts so they were hardly home at the same time. Pete sent her stuff that she'd asked for and she made herself at home in her new room. Jesse, Leon, and Vince all had rooms in the finished basement. Mia and Brian had a room on the second floor, along with Letty and Dom having the second room on that floor. The space they gave Shea was the large dormer area of the attic. It even had its own bathroom and tub. Shea was pleased with the privacy it allowed her.

The boys always seemed so rowdy. Wrestling around with each other, or playing video games. They seemed to be easier with Jesse, and Shea found out shortly after moving in that he'd had some serious gunshot wounds the year before. Obviously car accidents weren't the only dangers in the racing world. Vince had shown her his scars on the inside of his arm from the accident which he'd been in where he'd also been shot. Brian had saved his life. Letty had flipped her car the same day. Shea knew without asking they had been involved in some illegal activities. More than just the illegal street racing. She didn't ask about it, seeing as it wasn't any of her business.

It was a race night and as usual she had a date with Spider prior to the races. However, when Shea showed up it wasn't on the back of a motorcycle, but in the passenger seat of Lil's car. She knew she looked pissed off, hell she was beyond pissed off. Lil had hurried over to Jesse immediately, and was whispering to him. She had just approached her friends when Spider roared up on his bike. Letty could see the fury in her friend's eyes and was worried. Shea only gave her a half smile before heading over to the bike. They could tell she was arguing heatedly, so they moved closer in case she needed them.

"Ah come on Shea, everyone fucks up sometimes." Spider ground out in his deep smoke rasped voice.

"Fucks up? You call that fucking up? You didn't make a little mistake Spider." she practically screamed.

"What do you want me to do? I already apologized." he said and put his hands on her shoulders.

Shea stiffened. "I told you from the get go what I expected and what would happen. Fuck your apologies, and fuck you." She twisted away from and stepped back. "Just leave."

Spider looked at her quietly for a minute. "Fine." he said coldly. "But we ain't done talking about this Sugar, not by a long shot." He turned the bike and sped off.

Jesse had just finished whispering to Dom when Shea turned around to smile at the group watching the scene. She looked at the people who weren't her friends, "Enjoy the show? Nice little preview before the race." she said loudly with a lot of sarcasm. "Maybe next week I'll juggle."

Dom walked over to her. "Show me."

Shea looked at Lil with narrowed eyes, "Fuck Lil, why'd you have to open your mouth?"

Dom looked down at Shea and repeated himself slowly, "Show me." The rest of the group crowded around, not understanding what was happening, but wanting to close out the gawkers.

Shea sighed and turned her head, moving her hair to the side where a bruise was still forming at her hairline. Then she pulled down the neckline of her t shirt to show him the bruises forming on her collarbone, and shoulders.

"Oh, Shea." Mia whispered.

Leon and Vince looked at each other. "We're gonna fuckin kill him." Vince said plainly.

"Oh you are not!" Shea snapped. "It's done. Should have known by the name not to date him." she looked around annoyed, "Aren't you all supposed to be revving your engines, or picking up chasers by now?" she snapped again. "Not you Dom, or Brian." It seemed like forever before they finally went back to why they were, and they still kept throwing her glances that she supposed she wasn't meant to notice. Jesus the people were obvious. She'd seen five year olds that were more subtle.

Team Toretto won their races. Shea had become accustomed to that. She'd made friends with another racer Edwin, she found him incredibly funny. She'd also found the pleasant past time of sitting listening to the scanner with whoever was manning it, and daydreaming a bit while the races were actually occurring. Then they would party at the Toretto house, until Shea got tired and would go up to her room, shutting out everything before falling asleep to the muffled music.

The day of her doctor appointment with the new doctor came about two weeks into her stay with the Torettos. It was an early appointment so the gang wasn't expecting her until closer to mid day. By the time she got back though it was early afternoon.

"I'm so sorry I'm late. You will not believe the day I've had." She told Dom as she stormed into the office. She went directly to the water cooler. Filling up her Eeyore glass with water she drank deeply. "That fucking doctor won't refill my prescriptions until I've seen him two more times in the next month. Doesn't he realize I'll kill someone in that time frame? Cuz you know taking a mental case off of the pills that keep her sane, ALWAYS a good idea. Then to top matters off…"

Vince came into the office wiping grease off his hands, "Hey Shea, what happened to the back of your car."

Shea lifted her hand as if to say, See I told you there was more. "Some ass wipe ran into me. Totally his fault, but you realize that makes ten car accidents. One more and I'm up to one a year since I started driving." She drank more water, not realizing how parched she was.

Jesse looked up from the computer set up behind the desk Dominic sat at, a huge grin on his face. "Well, I have news that is totally going to turn your day around Shea."

She smiled, he was just a cute little guy. "Oh yeah, what's that Jess?"

"Your step mom Louise called to say your sister Amanda had a healthy baby boy this morning. Eight pounds six ounces. Richard Henderson Lane."

Shea felt like she'd been kicked in the stomach. "Oh yeah Jess?" She couldn't breathe. She didn't notice Dom and Vince approaching her, and didn't notice her hand tightening on the glass.

"Holy fuck!" Dom exclaimed as the glass shattered, spilling glass on the floor and desk. Vince went to get the trash can, and Dom started sweeping the glass together. Shea had walked to the doorway. Leon bumped into her right outside the kitchen. He steadied her, holding her arms, her hands on his chest. She spoke softly and kept walking, her movements quickening.

"Dude what just happened here?" Leon asked, "And where is Shea going?"

"What the hell did she say to you? What's on your shirt?" Vince asked, he knew, but didn't want to say it.

"Dom, there's blood on these glass shards." Jesse said looking up worried. Dom remembered the conversation with Kell. Amanda was her sister. The girl who her fiancé had cheated on her with was her sister.

Vince turned and saw the blood on the door handle. He could just see Shea's back as she walked down the road. "Dom, Shea's fucking walkin outa here." He saw her stumbling as if she was sleepwalking. Vince took off after her, catching up quickly. He grabbed her shoulder, and spun her around. Tears were running down her face in steady streams, blood was smeared on her face where she had wiped some of the tears away. She just looked at him blankly. "What the fuck is going on?" he yelled, and winced as she dropped to the ground in fear.

Letty and Dom were almost to them, and Vince dropped to his knees on the ground next to her. "Talk to me Shea. Talk to us. Where ya goin?"

She started sobbing, and her whole body was shaking. Vince just pulled her into a hug. Letty got to them and put her arms around the girl as well. Dom just stroked her cap of shiny blonde hair. After several minutes her sobs started to subside. Vince picked her up as if she were a child. She wrapped her legs around his waist but there was nothing sexual about it; her face buried in his neck. He carried her back to the shop, with Letty and Dom following close behind. They bandaged up her hand which was sliced across the palm, and made her lay down on the couch in the office. She started to speak, but Dom told her to rest, they'd talk about it later. Leon stayed with her for a while talking about engines until she fell asleep.

Later that night after dinner Shea knew she needed to explain. Especially after they'd been so kind to her that day. They were all in the living room when she spoke up. "I want to explain." Everyone quieted at this. "Jesse told me my sister had her baby today. I guess that's what finished up an already trashed day. I guess I should be thrilled. A new baby." she grimaced. Shea looked at the group of people. She didn't know where to begin. Lil had a quizzical look on her face. "I know when I first came I told you all that my fiancé had been killed in a riot. And that's true. Well, what no one else but Kell knew was that he wasn't going to be my fiancé for very much longer." Shea sat down in a chair staring off into space as she looked for the words that would explain it. "See, my baby sister came to me when she was two months pregnant to tell me that she was pregnant with Rick's baby. That they loved each other, and he hadn't told me yet because he didn't know how to." Mia walked over to where Shea was sitting, and sat next to her, grabbing her hand. "Funniest part of it all was that Rick had told me he didn't want children. I'd always wanted them, but I knew it would be difficult for me to have kids, which is a whole other story, so I agreed. We'd get married, be Auntie and Uncle, but no kids of our own. Anyway, she told me while Rick was on one of his overnight shifts. When he got home the next day, I confronted him. He told me it was true, but that we didn't have to break up since he'd promised me he'd marry me. That he and Amanda would work it out." Shea's voice had taken on a bitter tone. "Because obviously the fat blonde with mental issues wouldn't be able to find another man. Two days later he died in the riot. I haven't talked to my sister since the night she told me. She tried to. Right after he died, and at the funeral, but I couldn't. I couldn't handle being second best to someone again and again. Especially not my little sister."

"He was an idiot." Leon said in disgust.

"No, she's way prettier than me, and petite" Shea half laughed, half sobbed. "Plus she doesn't have the whole depression thing going on. I can see why he picked her. I can see why anyone would."

"Idiot." Leon reiterated.

She left them after that to clean up the kitchen. Once everyone had gotten back to their video games, or discussions, Letty and Mia cornered her. "What's this about no kids for you?" Letty asked bluntly.

Shea shrugged, "My doctor told me a long time ago that it would take serious fertility drugs for me to able to conceive, and then only maybe. It just ain't gonna happen. No big. My Dad was pretty abusive when I was little, so I always sort of worried that I'd end up that way. Maybe me not being able to have kids is the way to protect against that, ya know?"

"You're gonna have kids girl." Letty told her. "You'd be a natural mother, like our little Mia here."

Shea found herself going through the motions for the next week. She felt herself slipping. Not having the anti depressants in her system. Someone would say something and she took it the wrong way. She swallowed it down, and kept it to torment herself with later. She thought she was doing a good job of hiding it. They didn't know what she was thinking, and they'd never really had someone with such a bad case of depression, so they didn't pick up on the signs. Shea started begging off in the evenings, going to bed early. She picked at her food, and began to spend a lot of time alone. She would see Letty and Mia whispering, and assumed it was about her, about how they didn't want her around.

She'd had her second appointment with the doctor, and had begged, but they still wanted to see her one more time. What had she been thinking? Staying in Los Angeles. No one really wanted her here. She'd gotten the birth announcement for Ricky, that's what they were calling him, in the mail. Shea had gone and picked out a receiving blanket, and some little outfits. She sobbed as she boxed it up and mailed it off. 


	5. Chapter 5

Finally the new doctor put her back on her meds, and she felt herself feeling better. The anxiety was gone. The feelings that everyone hated her and didn't want her around. They all went creeping back into the dark place that only expanded when the drugs weren't there. Shea found herself enjoying her new life very much. She had a great time doing the books for both the store and the garage, and she'd even taken on setting up some of the appointments for the garage. She'd completely updated their filing system, and computerized most of their receipts, but always making sure they had paper back up. 

Shea found herself spending more time with her Aunt and Uncle. She found she enjoyed getting to know them. Before she'd really only known her mother's side, well except for her paternal grandfather. She was very close to him. He had been born and raised in Louisiana, and was very Creole. He would get on the phone with her and start talking in that special Cajun accent, really it was like it's own language, and she loved it. It wasn't that he had to speak that way. The man had been an engineer for years, but he enjoyed it. He enjoyed sharing that part of their background with her.

It was a race night, and Shea had decided to skip and stay at home. There'd been a lot of disgruntled people when she'd told them, but she needed a night to relax. She was ready for bed, deciding to stay upstairs instead of party that evening. She was in her sleepwear of thin tank, and boxers. It was close to midnight when she heard the motorcycle roar up. As soon as she heard the engine she hurried down the stairs. Looking out the peephole, she saw Spider heading up the stairs. Is he high? She thought with a frown. What the fuck was he doing here? She opened the door and stepped out onto the porch.

"Spider what are you doing here?"

He was staggering slightly, great he WAS drunk. "Ah babe, don't be like that. Don't ya miss me?"

Shea sighed, so much for relaxing. "Spider, I pretty much stopped thinking about you the minute you smacked me around."

"Fuck Shea, let's not talk about that." He'd moved up on her and pushed her against the door. It wasn't fully closed and crept open as he pushed. "Oh lookee, magic." He kept moving forward and she kept retreating, until the back of her knees hit the couch. "I've missed you so much babe."

"Dude, we went on four dates. It's not like we were getting married." she said with a bit of an attitude. Ok, maybe that wasn't the smartest thing to do, she thought. Why hadn't she realized how fucking creepy Spider is.

"Now Shea that isn't nice." he slurred and wagged his index finger in her face.

"Get it out of my face or I'll bite it off." she said angrily.

Spider stopped sighed and looked up at her from under his lashes, "Now Shea, didn't we talk about you being nice?" Before she could respond he lashed out slapping her across the face. Her vision blurred, and he pushed her down. Shea threw her leg up, kneeing him in the crotch, and she rolled off the couch. Spider grabbed her ankle and pulled her back. "Oh no, now it's time we had this out. I'm the man, and you need to learn your place. Your little friends are all busy. So now's the perfect opportunity for that lesson."

Shea kept trying to scramble away, but he had her by her ankle in a surprisingly strong grip. She couldn't see what he was doing, that eye was still blurry, but she heard something. Finally, turning onto her back, she saw he'd removed his studded belt. Oh hell no, she thought. He gave her a final yank, flipping her back on her belly, and managed to pull her a lot closer. Her knees and palms burned from the rug. He looped the belt, and slammed it across her back studs down. Shea couldn't help it, the pain was horrible, and she screamed.

"Now, are you going to behave." he said leaning in to kiss her. Shea was sobbing and still fighting, but he'd managed to turn her over onto her back, and he slapped the belt down across her stomach, which knocked her breath out. After that he pushed the studded belt between her legs, instantly bruising the smooth, soft flesh. He leaned in closer, and she didn't think. Shea bit down on his mother fucking nose for all she was worth. He screamed and grabbed her jaw. He squeezed so hard she had to let go. Spider knocked the belt into her arm, and again into her chest. "Stupid bitch!" he raged. Pressing the studded belt into her throat Spider started to undo his pants. She could feel herself blacking out from the lack of oxygen.

"Son of a bitch!" Shea barely heard the yell, and then suddenly her airflow was back. Brian had Spider on the couch, and he was holding him by the shirt yelling into his face. Mia raced to Shea who was trembling too hard to move. "You fucking son of a bitch! You thought you'd get away with that shit in this house!"

Leon and Letty came into the house at a run hearing Brian screaming outside. They took one look at Shea, and Leon joined Brian, while Letty ran to the women. "Are you ok Shea?" Letty said seeing that she was still having trouble breathing.Vince and Dom had entered the room.

"What the fuck's going on? Brian, Leon, while you holding that boy down?" Dom looked to the women, and Letty moved out of his line of sight, which made Shea visible. "Oh fuck."

Brian was still screaming, and had punched Spider in the stomach. Vince couldn't see beyond Dom. "What Dom? Isn't that Shea's Spider guy?"

"You fuckin faggot!" Leon yelled and kicked Spider. Dom tried to block Vince's view of the room before he could see Shea on the ground.

"Take him out to the back Bri." Dom said quietly. "Obviously this boy needs a lesson."

Shea sobbed and it came out broken and reedy. "What's wrong with Shea Dom?" Vince asked still not able to see past Dom's back. Brian and Leon had muscled Spider out the door, and were taking him around back. Dom sighed, and moved out of the way. Vince took one look at Shea. He didn't say a word. His eyes went dark, cold, and flat. He turned and headed to the backyard. Dom started to walk after.

"Dom." Shea tried to say, but the word came out strangled. He stopped and looked back. "Don't… kill. Don't…let…any….kill." she whimpered because it hurt too much. Letty met Dom's eyes, and he nodded.

"Shhh, baby, shhhh." she soothed. "No one's gonna kill nobody. They're just gonna teach that fucker to mess with one of us."

Lil and Jesse came into the house, "Why's the door open? Jesse laughed.

"Jesse, backyard." Letty said. "Lil we need ice, and towels, a lot of ice." Lil gasped and ran to the kitchen. Jesse hauled ass to the back.

Spider was propped up against the table. He was standing on his own, but was bent over. Blood dripped down his nose where she'd bit it. "You fuckers think you're tough shit." he slurred.

Vince circled Spider. "Think you can come into this house and fuck with us?"

"She ain't yours. Shit she don't even belong here." he laughed. "What, is she fuckin you? She fucked you... over me?"

Vince sped in and punched the taller man across the face. Dom leaned against the wall. He thought before he spoke. "You fucked up boy. Picked the wrong woman to fuck with. No one touches one of ours." Vince had slapped Spider hardacross the back of the head. "Now you just gotta pray that my woman doesn't come out here and tell me something worse than beating happened." Dom's deep voice was grim.

Vince leaned in close to Spider's ear. "If it did. Ain't nothing they can do to stop me from killing you real slow mother fucker." he hissed. Spider started crying. Then he punched Spider in the stomach. "See Brian there." he pointed towards the blonde. "He used to be a fucking cop. Think he's gonna help ya?"

"I'm not stopping you Vince." Brian said coldly.

Letty came out the door and walked to Dom. Malice raged across her face as she looked at the man that was so much bigger than her battered friend inside. She whispered into Dom's ear. He nodded slightly. Then she handed him the studded belt that the man had dropped when Brian had ripped him off of Shea. Dom handed the belt to Vince.

"Spider, Spider, Spider. I understand there are some bruises that we need to account for. And that you were dropping trow as Bri and Mia came in?"

Hector, and his friend Edwin had shown up, heard the guys, and they joined them in back. Lil was busy telling people there was no party that night while Mia tried to clean up Shea.

Spider sobbed, "I swear I didn't do that. I didn't do that." Vince slammed the belt against his back. The man cried out. The sound of motorcycle engines could be heard approaching. Several of the guys the man hung out with approached the group.

"Whatcha doin to our boy?" a big burly man asked, anger in his voice.

"Your friend came in, beat the hell out of our girl, and then tried to force himself on her. We're explaining to him as politely as possible that it's a bad idea to do that." Dom said calmly. The man's girlfriend went into the house followed by a scowling Letty. She came back out shortly and whispered to the man.

"We'll take em when you're done." At his words Spider whimpered for help. "Don't ask us for help. We told you we don't hold with violence to women. Maybe some do, not us. You lucky. That was one of ours, you'd be dead." Then the man lit a cigarette and sat back to watch.

Hector walked up to the man. He hadn't seen Shea yet, but he had a soft spot for the witty woman. "You messin with a lady pendejo?" he pulled out a butterfly knife and ran it along Spider's face, but didn't cut the man.

Each of the men, including Hector got in one more good hit, and he fell to the ground. Dom walked over and picked him up by the hair. "I really hoped you learned something here." He nodded to the burly man who had two of his friends pick Spider up and get him into the sidecar on one of their bikes. One of the others grabbed his bike.

When they got back into the house, Shea was still on the living room floor.

"Oh, Mami." Hector whispered. "I can't believe we let him live. I can't believe I didn't cut him up."

Dom knelt down on the floor in front of Shea. She stared at him with broken eyes. "We let him live. His friends took him. We need to check you over to make sure you don't need a doctor." Already they could deep purple bruising marring her throat, arm, and left cheekbone. Her left eye was swelling shut. Dried blood clung to her lips. "Is all of that your blood?" She shook her head no, and pointed to Dom's nose. "You bit his nose?" she nodded and he chuckled lightly. "Good girl. Show me the rest." Tears rolled out of her eyes as she looked around. "We need to see Shea. No one here blames you." He helped her to her feet, and helped her stand.

Shea showed them the marks on her back, her arm, and her belly. She tried to avoid the marks on her inner thighs, but Vince moved forward and gently pushed the sides of the shorts up, revealing the nasty marks. Mia helped clean her up, and hobble upstairs. She cried silently, because to do anything other would hurt too badly. The rest of the house was unbearably quiet as well. Hector and Edwin had left after Hector kissed the top of Shea's head and told her he'd see her soon. Jesse had taken Lil downstairs and was calming her down. Mia, Brian, Letty, Dom, Vince, and Leon were in the kitchen while they discussed exactly what Brian had walked in on.

Shea lay in bed. The tears had finally stopped, and she was staring at the ceiling. Her door squeaked open and she looked over at the bulky figure entering her room. She supposed she shouldn't be too shocked. It seemed he was always taking care of her these days when something bad happened. He knelt down beside the bed and she rolled onto her side to face him.

"Hey, how ya feelin?"

Shea just shrugged. She swallowed trying to ignore the pain. "My…fault." she croaked out.

"Don't be ridiculous. You should've come with us, but it wasn't your fault." he smoothed the hair out of her face. "You won't be staying home again. We'll be keeping you with us. Keep you out of trouble." he tried to lighten his tone with a small smile. There was sadness in his eyes. Shea ran her finger down his cheek. "Ya know, I used to have to watch my dad beat the hell out of my mom. I was this scrawny thing, never big enough to do anything about it. The day I finally did, man, I beat the hell out of him. She kicked me out."

Shea hated seeing that look in his eyes. She leaned forward and kissed his cheek softly. They looked at each other for a minute. His blue eyes to her hazel ones. Then he leaned forward and kissed her. Shea kissed him back, and moved her hand to behind his head to pull him closer. Without breaking the kiss he stood from his crouched position and placed his knee on the edge of the bed. She rolled pulling him with her, and then grasped the edge of his tank. There was pain from her bruises, but the feel of him on top of her sweetened it. His lips left hers briefly to remove the offending article of clothing. Then he placed his body length to hers. She almost sighed from the thrill.

Between the two of them they managed to remove the rest of their clothing until they were lying naked in each others arms. Her eyes were wide with worry. "Don't look…at body." she whispered worried he wouldn't like what he saw. He slowly gazed down her body, saddened by the bruising.

"So beautiful." he whispered kissing her collarbone. "Shea, I'm not a gentle man. I don't know if I have it in me to give you the gentleness that you need." He was running his hand down her side and over her hip. In answer she leaned up and bit his rough chin lightly.

"Vince….shut up." she rasped softly, and bit again. He moved his hand lower on her hip and pulled her leg up over his waist.

Afterward, she curled into him for several minutes before she slept. As she slept she moved onto her belly to a more comfortable position. He kissed her shoulder lightly. Vince quickly shrugged into his pants, grabbed the rest of his clothing, and snuck down to his room in the finished basement. He lay on his bed staring at the ceiling. Fuck. What had he done? He could still smell her on him. That mix of perfume and Shea. She wasn't his type, and he certainly wasn't hers. She wasn't some random racer chaser in for a one night stand. What had he been thinking? Well, obviously he hadn't been thinking. At least not with the head on his shoulders. But damn, that was unbelievable.

Shea woke to sunlight streaming in through the windows of her room. Looking at the clock she saw it was already 9am. She stretched and winced at the pain in her battered body. Then she remembered. She could still smell him. The mix of soap, sweat, and something masculine that was purely Vince. She groaned. What was she thinking? She slept with Vince, well not really slept, but they'd made love… had sex…oh whatever, forget the semantics of it. Fine, she'd be scientific about it. She'd had sexual intercourse with Vince. Really good sexual intercourse. Amazingly awesome sexual intercourse. Fantas…ah damn it. How could she have had sex with He-Slut Man-whore of the Universe? She sighed, well, look at it this way moron, next race night, if not before, he'll be on to his next chaser. We can just pretend it was our imagination and move on. Yes, pretend it was our highly creative, and active imagination. I won't say a word, and I'll pretend like nothing happened.

Shea dressed quickly in a long, loose cotton skirt, and a matching loose cotton top. The sleeves reached her elbows and covered the bruises marring her arms. She found whisker burn along her collarbone and cheek, but there wasn't much she could do about that. Before she could over analyze she grabbed her purse and walked out the door. She headed straight to the garage and breezed into the office. Dom poked his head in.

"You didn't have to come in this morning." he told her looking her over.

Her voice was slightly raspy, "I'm fine. Like I would leave you guys here when we have the invoices from the new inventory you ordered." she snorted.

He grinned and went back to the car he was working on. At lunch they all met on the picnic tables and ate together. Letty looked her over.

"Poor thing. I didn't realize that a goatee could give that type of whisker burn, but damn did he get you good." she frowned. Vince started coughing at the other end of the table, and Leon pounded on his back.

Shea just patted Letty's hand. "I'm fine. Everything is fine, and the wounds will all heal."

"How can you be so nonchalant about it all?" Mia asked curiously.

Shea sighed, "Not really lunch time discussion, but okay." she looked at the group around her. "My father was highly abusive while I was younger. He's not the same as he was then. Now he's something else entirely." She spoke as if she was talking about someone else. "I was raped. As a senior in high school, I was raped by someone that I thought was my friend. It's a common enough occurrence. I've also dated several guys who used their hands on me, and not in a kind way. But one hit, one push, and they were on their way. Life wasn't always so sweet." Mia looked about to cry, so Shea grabbed her hand. "The point is Mia, if I can survive all of that, to be where I am now, then I think I'm doing pretty good. Now, if you hadn't come home last night, and hadn't stopped him. If he didn't kill me, well, I'm not so sure I would have survived again. But you saved me, my knights in shining armor, so let's not dwell. Let's enjoy the gorgeous weather, and company."

Life settled back into their routine, and the bruises faded from Shea's body. The week passed, and Vince and Shea pretended that nothing happened. Race night came, and this time they wouldn't let her beg out. So she went.

"Ay Mami, You're looking better." Hector said coming up and putting his arm around Shea's shoulders.

She gave him a smile. He might be a hornball, but he was such a sweet hornball. Oh, she knew he wasn't squeaky clean when it came to the law, but he was her friend. What more could a person ask for?


	6. Chapter 6

Three months had passed since she'd started her six month stay. She and Vince hadn't spoken of their night together, and Shea thought that was for the best. There were many times she saw him talking to chasers, and she was sure he'd been having his usual fun. She ignored the sting she felt thinking about him with someone else. She told herself that it wasn't her business, and neither was he. Little did she know that Vince hadn't been playing his usual chaser games. He was just keeping up the appearance so no one would question him. He was at a loss, not knowing what was happening in his head.

Shea had been on a few dates, but she hadn't met anyone that really did it for her. There was a concert coming up that she and Teena were going to. It turned out that she and Teena both loved The Killers, and Teena had scored some amazing tickets. So it was definitely something she was looking forward to.

It was a Wednesday that Shea came home to a quiet house. She knew everyone was home, and there was a rental car in the drive, but it was so silent. She was frowning slightly as she walked in and Mia came out of the kitchen with a worried look on her face. Shea was about to ask Mia what was wrong when the figure stepped out from behind her.

The girl stood a good five inches shorter than Shea's 5'10" frame. Petite with curves, more curves than normal, and shoulder length auburn hair. "Hey Shea." she said tentatively.

"Amanda." Shea said soberly, the good mood evaporating immediately. Emotions warred within her. On one hand her baby sister was in front of her, and Shea loved her so much. On the other hand, this was one of the people who'd betrayed her and ultimately broken her heart. Everyone else was in the kitchen.

"Shea, I really need to speak to you." Amanda looked at her beseechingly.

"Really," Shea said faintly. "I thought you'd said enough the last time we spoke."

Tears started to drip down Amanda's face. "Shea, please. Just listen, then I'll leave."

Shea considered walking up the stairs and not saying another word. My, how very grown up that would be. She sighed, wasn't that the biggest problem, she's always been the grown up, even as a child. "Fine, say what you need to say."

"I'm sorry." she whispered.

"Isn't that rich?" Shea said angrily. "You're sorry? The man I thought I was going to spend the rest of my life with falls in love with you, AND gives you the child that he wouldn't even try to give me, and YOU'RE sorry. Do you expect me to forgive you for Rick loving you?"

"He didn't love me." Amanda sobbed.

"What are you talking about Amanda?" she said snidely and turned to face her fully. The kitchen was silent, but no one had left. Shea just didn't give a damn.

"He didn't love me. He came to me. The day after I talked to you, he came to me. You must have talked to him. He came and told me I shouldn't have said anything. Said he'd realized he'd never really loved me, but that he'd been attracted to me since I was so different from you. Since I was so experimental with everything. My drug past, my drinking." Amanda choked on a sob. "He said that he was going to marry you. That you were the perfect person to marry and would help him get where he needed to be in life, and that I wasn't the marrying kind. Told me I should get an abortion…" the girl trailed off as her sobs shook her small body.

Shea dropped her head. "Oh Anda." She'd always known that Rick had a cruel side. "Anda, I'm your sister. How could you do that to me? I practically raised you. Trying to keep you out of the house so you didn't deal with Dad and your Mom's fights. I tried to make sure you grew up with a good role model? But that you had a good time like I didn't have."

"I don't know why!" the girl cried. "We only slept together a few times. The first time was on my twentieth birthday. I was drunk and he told me how beautiful I was and how much he loved me. I was always so jealous of you." Amanda sat on the couch. "You had everything. You were perfect. Where I was such a fuck up. I guess I proved I still am."

"What are you talking about?" Shea said in disbelief. "How did I have everything? I had to fight hard to even get Rick to date me. You were the one who had all the fun, the one Pete and I protected. The prettiest Lane sister. Most preferred." There was no bitterness in Shea's voice, just acceptance.

"No Shea, not prettier." Amanda shook her head. "Look at you. You're pretty and sexy. Those eyes, those full lips, your sense of humor, and you're so smart. All of my boyfriends loved being there when we hung out together so they'd get to listen to you, and talk to you. You had it all together. You were a better mother to me than mine ever was. You had a good job, you volunteered, and talked at all those assemblies. You always help anyone who needs it. You would offer to clean off the knife for the person who'd just shoved it in your back. I wanted to be you."

"Yeah, Anda, that's a great trait, gullibility. Why don't we tattoo DOORMAT across my forehead. As for the other stuff. You wanted to be ME? That's crazy Anda, fucking crazy. You never got beaten by Dad. Sure I volunteered, and talked at the assemblies. I talked about date rape and domestic abuse. You want to be able to talk about that shit? Cuz I sure as hell don't. I wish I didn't have that type of knowledge. I don't care if it did make me into the person I am today. I'd kill to see who Shea would have been with out it! And my job, please! It's boring. My boss is constantly trying to play grab ass with me, and I do the work of half the office for a lot less pay than they get. I HATE every minute of it, and the dicksmack boss." Shea laughed at the ridiculous situation. "As for being pretty, hell even sexy, give me a break. Rick hadn't touched me in six months, and even before that it was sporadic."

"I swear Shea, I only slept with him the three times. He told me you hated sex. That you wouldn't touch him saying that you didn't want to do it too often." Shea winced at the note that had crept into her sister's voice. Then she laughed.

"That is funny. He told me that I was oversexed and that he couldn't handle my, god what did he say, oh yeah, 'rabbit like tendencies'. He told me it was obvious I was my father's daughter." Shea sighed and sat on the chair across from the couch. "Oh Anda, how the hell did we end up here?"

"I know I'm a horrible person Shea. But I'm trying to change. Now that I'm a momma, I'm going to try to be someone you could be proud of one day. I want Richie to grow up to be a good man. Not like Rick." Amanda was crying, and trying to talk between sobs. "I want you to know him. I want him to know you. I want you to love me again. Please." she whimpered.

Shea got up, tears streaming down her face. She walked to the couch and put her arms around her sister. "Now how could I not love my beautiful baby sister?" she said having to clear the lump from her throat. "Anda, you could've taken the easy way out." she said softly. "You could have done what he said, and had an abortion, but you didn't. You stuck with it, and now you're someone's mother. And that makes me very proud of you. We'll get past this. I know it. We both screwed up in our own ways. Rick saw something in you that attracted him, and yes, you should have denied it, or come to me and talked to me about the feelings before acting on them, but you didn't. I screwed up too though."

"No…"

Shea cut her off. "Yes." she said with finality. "I knew. I knew that I didn't love Rick, and that we shouldn't be together. But I'd fought so hard for him. So hard for him to love me that I didn't think that could just let that go. We didn't make each other happy. He didn't give me the love and affection that I wanted, no actually, that I needed. I wanted to try for kids, even though I knew it was pointless, and he didn't want to give us that chance. So yes, I made mistakes too." Shea held Anda close to her, both girls crying. Shea felt better than she had in a long time. "Tell me now, where is this nephew of mine?"

"He's at the hotel with Mom." Amanda sniffled.

Shea's eyebrows shot up. "Your Mom came with you?" Oh god.

"Yeah, Mia, your friend, said that if you didn't mind we could all do dinner and grill out."

"Ok, I think that sounds really good." Shea grimaced slightly above the girl's head. Oh lord, Mia didn't know what she'd done. "I think Lil will be here tonight too." Lil and Anda had spent a lot of time together several years before when Anda's mom had been with their Dad. "But you have to tell your mom no questions dealing with Dad or Missy."

"I promise." Anda said with humor in her voice. The divorce between Louise and Walker Lane had been a three year ordeal with the two of them trying to pull the three kids in different directions. It had been the most difficult on Anda since she'd still been in high school. "I'll go back now, and we'll come back in an hour?"

"That sounds good." they hugged and the younger girl left happier than she'd arrived.

Shea sat on the couch and took a deep breath. Well, life certainly wasn't boring in this house was it? She'd better worn Letty to save Dom. Louise would be all over that boy like white on rice. 


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Ok,soI'm happyI put some lovin in the story.I wanted romance in the story. I just didn't know who to fit Shea with. She's special. Is Vince the right choice? I think so, but if someone thinks not, and has a different idea, hey let me know. I'm open to new possibilities. Not saying I'll do it, but I'd look into it. Next chapter is the bar. BTW, Louise is ALSO based on Shea's step mom. Oh she's a character and a half.**

While Amanda was gone Shea explained that she'd taken Mia up on the offer of dinner and would be arriving in a little while. Then she was quiet.

"What's up Shea?" Leon asked, "This is good right."

Shea sighed. "It is good Leon. But Louise is, well, she's different. I mean, she's not a typical mom."

"What do you mean?" Mia asked.

"When I first turned 21 Louise was the one who I partied with constantly. She was always more my friend than my step mom. She's very…vivacious. She's a lot of fun, and I love her to death, but I still feel I should warn you."

"Warn us?" again from Mia.

"Yeah. Louise likes men. I mean she REALLY likes men. My dad and her didn't have a traditional type of marriage." Shea emphasized the word traditional. "Look I won't beat around the bush. She's gonna try to hook up with one you guys tonight. If it doesn't work with one, she'll move on to the next."

"Aren't you being a little melodramatic?" Letty grinned not believing what she was hearing.

Shea looked at her with a smirk. "You know Let, if I didn't love you so much I wouldn't add this. She slept with an ex of mine, after we were broken up, and she cornered one of my boyfriends into the bathroom at their Halloween party and told him she'd love to lick him from his nose to his toes. He came out terrified and wouldn't go back into the bathroom without me." Letty's mouth dropped open in shock.

"Your MOTHER?" Leon asked.

"STEPmother. Actually, not even that any more. But I do love her. So guys, good luck! If you need to be rescued, let me know. If not, and you take her up on the offer, hey enjoy." she left the kitchen snickering. She needed to change before her family got there. She knew they still didn't quite believe her. Hehehehe, wait until they met her.

Louise had been light a beacon of light in an otherwise pitch black life for Shea. She'd met Shea's dad at work right after her mom had left him. She was tough and she'd turned the man around for the better. He'd never hit Shea or Pete again after he met Louise. Amanda had been two when they met, but Shea had looked at the girl as her real sister since the day she first met them and had never changed that attitude. Louise had gotten Shea drunk for the first time when Shea was 15. When Shea turned 21, she'd taken her out to the bars, and they'd ended up going out drinking at least four nights a week for a long time. Shea had always worried about what she'd seen as not so innocent flirtation, and then Louise had told her something she could have gone forever without knowing. Louise and her Dad had an open marriage and were swingers. What the fuck? She still found the thought sickening. When Walker and Louise had split up she'd expected Shea and Pete to choose sides. So for a long time there'd been a bit of a chasm between them, because Shea had told her she wasn't choosing dick. She loved them both. Unfortunately that hadn't been good enough for a long time.

She heard the car and headed downstairs. Everyone had finally moved to the living room. Vince and Leon were playing videogames and arguing. Jesse and Lil were out for the evening, but Lil had said she'd try to get back in time to see everyone.

Louise entered the house first and enveloped Shea into a hug. She was a petite woman, much like her daughter. Her hair had grown out and was to the middle of her back now, and a lovely brunette shade. She wore a sweater that showed her purchased cleavage to its best advantage. After she finally let Shea go, after oohing and ahhing over how wonderful she looked, she turned and hugged everyone. It almost made Shea laugh to see the men fidget and the look come into Let's eyes as she hugged Dom a bit longer. Poor Dom just had a slightly desperate look in his eyes. Louise put one arm through Dom's arm, and one through Vince's. "Well aren't these two fine strapping young men." she said breathlessly. Shea just shook her head. It was amazing the radar the woman had when it came to men she was interested in. Wait a minute, she wasn't interested in Vince. Shit. Nevermind. Vince and Dom just gave her sick smiles. Shea threw them an especially sweet smile and turned her attention over to Amanda who was taking her son from his carrier.

Shea took a hesitant step forward. "May I?" she asked, and Anda handed him over. The group watched as Shea cuddled the baby close, tears falling silently down her cheeks. "Oh aren't you beautiful." she cooed. He was a gorgeous baby. Of course looking at the genes that went into the little fella, it was only logical. "I'm your Auntie Shea. I'm so sorry we haven't gotten to know each other before now." she told him. He stared up at her out of large brown eyes. "Yes I am. But we have plenty of time now, don't we, yes."

For an hour Shea held Richie, as Anda was calling him. She thought he was perfect. Amanda and Louise spent time getting to know her friends and it seemed everyone was having a marvelous time.

He couldn't stop looking at her. She was holding that baby, and looked like she was totally at peace. The baby would reach a chubby hand up to her face, and she'd kiss his little palm, then they'd hear the baby chortle. That seemed to delight her. The baby seemed taken with her too. He'd never been around little babies, or children for that matter. They scared the hell out of him, but the baby didn't seem to phase Shea in the slightest. She just kept talking to him quietly, and then laughing. Her mom, step mom, whatever, on the other hand was scary as hell. She'd pinched Leon's butt, and she'd groped his bicep. Dom kept pulling Letty into his lap, and that seemed to keep the woman away. It seemed however that Letty was having a good time at Dom's expense. She'd get up, and walk away to smirk widely when Louise found her way to Dom. Served them right, they should have listened.

Her sister seemed nice, but he was still angry that she could betray her own sister like that. When your parents were shit, and you had someone like Shea willing to take care of you like she had, how can you stab them in the back like that? In his life he'd had very few people like that, until Dom and the people he considered his family now. The Ol' Coyote they called him, because he was a loner. Yeah, he was.

"So Shea," Louise began. "Are you dating anyone?"

Seeing their opportunity they sprang. "Me!" both Leon and Vince announced. Letty almost choked on her beer. Dom shook his head. Brian and Mia tried to hide their smiles.

Oh please, Shea thought, as if. Obviously this was their 'hint' to her that they needed help. Poor Louise no nooky from these boys. Louise was looking at her with raised eyebrows. "It's true." she agreed breezily. "I just can't choose between them. They're both gorgeous. Both smart. Funny. They're both AMAZING in bed. So I date Leon three nights a week, and Vince three nights with Wednesdays off. A girl needs her rest you know?" Shea turned to Vince, "Right baby?" She proceeded to plant a liplock on him that was awarded with several catcalls from the others. When she pulled away, his face was a flaming red. Then she turned to Leon. "Right baby?" Except Leon met her halfway, since he'd had warning, and wrapped his arms around her neck. Oh naughty boy, she thought and almost laughed. Damn, the boy could kiss! She turned back to Louise, her head spinning from both kisses. Wow. "It gets confusing sometimes so I just call them babe, or baby."

Letty loved the guys discomfort. "Yeah, you should see it. It's like a regular revolving door on the attic. The racer chasers are super pissed because she took both of them off the market."

Vince was livid. He was going to have to kick Leon's ass, and he didn't even really know why. What the fuck was that kiss? Fuck.

Leon just felt relief. He'd dodged the Louise bullet. He could breathe. Why'd Vince look so pissed off? Whatever. Moody fucker.

"So since it's Wednesday, you have the night off?" she asked.

"Yep."

"Well, your sister wants to go back to the hotel and go to bed early. So, why don't we go out to the bars?" Louise looked excited.

Oh god. "Sure, that sounds great." Shea smiled.

"Great, well then, I'll drop the kid off at the hotel and come back after I get ready." Louise smiled, "You all should come with us. We have a great time!" Everyone nodded at this. It had been a while since they'd been out.

"Super."

The two women, and baby much to Shea's unhappiness left shortly after that. Shea collapsed on the couch. "OH FUCK!" she said slamming her head into the back of the couch. "I'm too old for this shit." she looked at Dom. "Dude, I hope you realize you aren't opening the shop tomorrow unless you're the designated driver." Again she saw the disbelief in their eyes. Stupid fuckers.


	8. Chapter 8

When Louise made it back to the house she was ready to go. She'd changed and now the petite woman was in a short leather mini skirt and another snug short-sleeved sweater. They decided that Vince, Jesse, and Mia would be the designated drivers. Jesse and Lil had arrived a few minutes before Louise had returned and had decided to join them. So Dom, Letty, and Brian hopped in with Mia; Lil and Leon rode with Jesse; and Shea and Louise rode with Vince.

Vince was silent as he drove. Unfortunately, Louise wasn't. "So how's your dad Shea?"

Shea sighed staring out the window. "He's okay. Been in the hospital quite a bit lately, but seems to be doing better."

"That's good." she said. Shea took that to mean, too bad the fucker's penis didn't fall off. "I must say Shea, I'm quite surprised that you're actually seeing two guys at once. It doesn't seem like you at all."

Shea grinned slightly. "Yeah, I guess. It's all good fun though. Nothing serious, just enjoying each others company." Fuck, she didn't even know what she was saying anymore. Making shit up as it came to her. They had chosen to go to Sins again since they were familiar with the bar. It was busier than normal, and there looked to be some sort of party going down. The guys pulled a couple of tables together and Louise bought a round of shots for the table. She'd ordered another round of shots, and a double rum and coke for herself, and a double screwdriver for Shea before they'd slammed the first shots. 

"So Louise, tell us what Shea was like as a little girl?" Letty asked mischievously. Shea stuck her tongue out at the other girl.

Louise smiled at the memories. "Well she was just nine, almost ten when I met Walker. Such a shy thing, but took to Amanda right away. We always called Shea our little mother because of the way she hauled that two year old around." Shea left the table and went to the bar to get more drinks. She waited for them to get ready, and by the time she got back to the table the stories had obviously made it into her teens. "So she was dating this unbelievably stupid boy."

"Now Lou, Paul wasn't stupid." she said mildly, and downed her shot.

"Shea honey, you have had the worst taste in men for the longest time. Present company excluded." Shea couldn't argue with that statement so she just shrugged. "There was that Paul boy, in a rock band you know, and then that other band boy. Good lord Shea, I think for the longest time all you did was date guys in bands."

Shea shrugged again. "I like guys with rhythm."

"Ay Mami, that's how you won my heart, talkin like that." the amused voice came from behind her. She turned to find Hector and his crew behind her and hugged him delightedly. She introduced the men, and few women to Louise, and then pulled Hector out onto the floor. She gave him a quick warning where her step mother was concerned and figured he was smart enough to believe her. The others just didn't take her seriously enough. He laughed when she told him about Vince and Leon, and Shea could tell by the gleam in his eye he was going to be naughty.

By the time they got back to the table two more rounds of shots were waiting for her. She slammed them both quickly, feeling the tequila burn down her insides. She was well on her way to being trashed. Looking at the others through a fuzzy haze she could tell they were too, but Lou was just getting started. She'd managed to snare one of Hector's crew and was grinding against the man. Shea just smiled, he seemed to be enjoying himself.

Shea leaned closer to Letty, "She'll take him out back before too long."

"No shit?"

"When are you people going to just accept what I say as truth?" Shea asked with a frown. Lou and the man had come back to the table when Hector pulled out his plan.

"Ay Mami, I just can't fight these feelings anymore. I need you." With that he swooped in kissing her with abandon. Damn, she thought, he's as good a kisser as Leon. She was too drunk for this shit. Boys playing games. Leon dropped his head in his hands and started snickering at the look on Shea's face. Vince could feel his blood pressure spiking drastically. What the fuck was up with his friends tonight?

"Should've known the slut was givin it out to everyone." The bitter voice said coming from behind the group. Turning Shea saw Spider and company had just walked into the bar. Shea saw the healing scars across his face. Vince was up and off his chair before anyone could say anything else. His stool went flying backwards. Shea stepped in front of him before he could get to the man.

"Vince." she said trying to get him to look at her. When he did she almost stepped back at the blankness of his eyes. "Vince, dance with me?" she whispered. He took her hand and led her to the floor, pulling her close as a slower song was playing.

"Don't you learn anything." The big man from that night looked at the younger man in disgust, and then shoved past him to go claim a table. Dom, Leon, Hector, and Jesse had all stood up and were now staring at Spider. He turned white and didn't say another word, just walked stiffly over to the tables his friends were at.

"Well, something tells me there's a story there?" Lou said lightly. Letty and Mia proceeded to fill her in.

Vince hadn't said a word, just held her close and moved with her to the music. "You know you can't kill him right?" His clutch tightened slightly, and she sighed. "Vince he won't touch me. Not with all of you here. He might talk big shit, and he might try to provoke you into starting something, but he won't. Don't let him do that."

"I still see what you looked like after. All the bruises. So much like my mom." he said against her hair.

"Ah, but I'd never kick you out for protecting me." she leaned back and looked into his blue eyes. "You will never know how good it made me feel to know that all of you cared enough to do what you did. I know that it's probably bad to be glad you made him suffer, but it made me feel so good."

"I wanted to fuckin kill him. I wanted to kill him slow and very painfully."

"Well, I'm glad you didn't. I like you here, not off in jail."

"Then I was a monster, comin up and takin advantage of you like that." he muttered.

Shea got quiet. It was the first time he'd mentioned it. "Took advantage of me? Vince, you didn't take advantage of me. I enjoyed every millisecond of it."

By the end of the night, everyone not deemed designated driver was trashed. It wasn't the trashed that they normally saw on race nights. It was the type of trashed that every newly turned 21 year old got. They had to drop Lou off at the hotel, and then Vince had to carry her up to her room. Letty was still giggling in the car, remembering the look on Hector's face when his friend had come back from the alley behind the bar with a satisfied smile on his face. It had been priceless. The three cars stuck together, and headed home after dropping the rowdy woman off.

Vince and Shea were in the car and it was silent again. She rolled her incredibly heavy head to look at the man next to her. "That was a fun night." she slurred. Vince smirked. "Couldntwehavesomemusic?" Still not speaking he flipped the radio on. "Oh I loooooooovvvvvveeeeeeee this song!" she crowed enthusiastically and started singing along at the top of her lungs. "Somewhere beyond hapiness and sadness.  
I need to calculate what creates my own madness, And I'm addicted to your punishment  
And your the master, and I am waiting for disaster…I feel irrational, so confrontational  
To tell the truth I am getting away with murder! It is impossible to never tell the truth  
But the reality is I'm getting away with murder. Getting away, getting away, getting away." They had pulled into the driveway and he shut off the car and turned to look at her with a grin. "I'm not sure you appreciate the finer work by Papa Roach Vincie." she said blinking at him, bummed because the music went bye bye.

"Vincie?"

"Vincie, Vinnie, Vinnie poo?" she offered.

"How about just Vince." he leaned in and kissed the drunk open.

"Hmmmm, that was nice." she said, her eyes still closed. She opened her eyes to see him getting out of the car. Damnit. She was drunk and horny. Double damnit. She vaguely remembered something to the effect of Vince wasn't supposed to kiss her, and she wasn't supposed to like it. She looked out the door of the car as it opened suddenly. Dude, was Dom puking in the bushes. She'd told him not to top the tequila off with jagermeister. That shit was nasty. Vince pulled her out of the car and picked her up. "I love taxi service." she shared with a smile. Everyone else was managing to stumble into the house. Some laughing, and some groaning. Vince took her straight to her room.

He set her down gently and started to turn to leave. She pulled him back by his belt loops, her hands then moving under his shirt. "Shea!" he said startled by the groping woman.

"I think we should have some sex." she told him. "Then tomorrow we can pretend it never happened."

"Shea," Vince scolded. "What has gotten into you?"

"Well, not you for a while." she told him. "Let's change that." Surprising him, she spun him and shoved him onto the bed. Vince was completed shocked. She straddled him and started kissing him again.

"I don't think this is a good idea." he told her as she was nuzzling his neck. Her hands were already working on his pants.

"I think it's the best idea I've had in fucking forever." she told him and moved down his chest. She was biting him through his shirt, and his resolve was almost non existent. "I think you should just be a man, shut up, and fuck me." she said naughtily. Vince groaned as he processed her words. "Ooohhh, little Vince liked that dirty talk didn't he."

Vince gave in and started touching her writhing body. This time she wasn't battered and he discovered she was very experimental. She did things with her mouth that he'd never thought could be that good, and after they both fell into a deep, exhausted sleep. 


	9. Chapter 9

Shea woke up and realized she wasn't alone. She felt okay, luckily something in her genetics saved her from hangovers. She lay with the sheet about her waist, and Vince's arm covering her breasts. The sheet was only covering his waist also, and their feet stuck out from the bottom.

The door to her room popped open suddenly, and Mia walked in. "Hey Shea, you up y…OHHHMIGOD!" she screamed when she saw the two in bed. "Oh my, oh I'm sorry, I didn't realize, I'm sorry." People had come running at her scream and saw past her to the bed. There were several exclamations made before she could get the door shut. Vince had shot up in bed at her yell.

"Shit." he said. He looked at the blonde next to him. "I meant to go to my room." he explained.

She nodded. She wasn't too worried. She'd just tell them it was a one time occurrence, it wasn't like they had to know about the first time.

"I'm sorry. Damn it I wished no one had seen this. Then we could just pretend nothing happened." he sighed.

This pissed Shea off. Not that he didn't want to tell people. Hell, she didn't plan on a repeat performance, oh hell, another repeat performance. But he seemed embarrassed. Oh, he was embarrassed to be caught with her huh? He didn't notice her eyes narrow.

"Damn Shea, you scratched my back to shit." he said pulling his pants on. Shea got out of bed pulling shorts and a tank top on quickly. "So we'll just tell them it was a lapse in good judgment?"

Rage was filling her up and she was flinging the sheets back on the bed. "Sure, sounds good." she snapped.

"What's wrong?" Vince asked confused. He thought she'd be happy with that.

"Nothing's wrong. What could possibly be fucking wrong?" her voice was raising slightly.

"O-k," he said slowly. "Well, look at it this way, it'll probably all blow over by the next race anyway." he smiled.

Ahhh, so he couldn't wait to get a little racer chaser in his sights, well FINE. She turned and looked at him, and he almost stepped back at the anger in her eyes. "That's fine Vince." Shea was so pissed off, she found herself strangling the stuffed animal in her hands. She kept them on her bed for decoration. There were about ten altogether. "Why don't we just forget it did happen? Heh? That way we don't have to pretend."

"Shea, calm down, what's the problem?"

"Problem, no fucking problem. It's obvious to me I fucked up keeping you in here last night, that's all. Would have let you go if I'd known what an embarrassment I'd be."

"Shea no, that's not what I…" he didn't get to finish because she hurled the stuffed animal and it smacked him in the face.

She picked up another one. "Get the fuck out of my room Vince." she threw that one too. The girl had an arm, and good aim.

"Jesus Shea! Calm down!"

She was just picking them up and hurling them now. "Get out, get out, get out!" She'd run out of animals and was about to hurl one of her boots at him. So he ran. He strode past the people in the living room, and directly down to his room in the basement. What had THAT been about? Fuck, women were nuts. Maybe THAT was why he kept out of real relationships.

Shea picked up the animals stacking them neatly on the bed. Then she dropped to the bed and sighed. Mother fucker. She should probably start working on cleaning up her language. She cursed a lot. She needed to run she thought. Run and work off all those bad feelings, and the two scoops of Rocky Road she'd had the night before. Shea pulled on her sneakers, grabbed her headphones and radio, and walked downstairs. She found everyone, minus Vince, in the living room. The stared at her with huge eyes and she gave them a sweet smile. "As Vince just told me please disregard this whole thing. It was a lapse in good judgment on both of our parts. It will not be occurring again, and should not have occurred this time. There are three months until I go home. I'm going for a run." Then she turned on her heel and walked out the door.

Louise, Amanda, and Richie left that Sunday. Shea was actually sorry to see them go. She and Anda had caught up in a lot of ways. The night of the concert she was going to with Teena came and she decided it was time to dress it up a bit. She bought new jeans which rode a bit lower on her shrinking hips, and she bought a new top that she thought would quickly become her favorite. It was a gold crocheted tank top. It covered her front, and left her back completely exposed. It showed more of her than she was used to showing but it also showed off her lower back tattoo which was a small red dragon. She put on her comfy concert boots, outlined her eyes in black kohl, and wore deep rust colored lip gloss. She sprayed herself with her favorite perfume and she was ready to go. 

Shea headed downstairs with a skip to her step. She was in a good mood. She'd gone back to just being friendly to Vince, and had put the whole situation out of her mind. She got downstairs and Vince, Leon, and Jesse were playing video games, as usual. Mia and Brian were out on a date, and Letty and Dom were coming out of the kitchen arguing. When they stopped arguing abruptly Jesse looked up from the game.

"Wow!" he said clearly. "Hey, um, Shea, say if Lil leaves me, would you, um run away with me to Mexico?" The other two looked up at this. Letty walked over. Vince's mouth went dry.

"Ok, spin." she ordered.

Shea spun, and her long dangling earrings brushed her tanned shoulders.

"Damn Shea! You gonna give us heart attacks going out like that." Letty teased. Vince felt himself getting angry. She was wearing that non existent excuse for a top out of the house? In public? Where guys were?

"Do I look okay?" she asked a little nervously.

"Hell yeah!" Dom said enthusiastically, and Letty narrowed her eyes at him.

"You look awesome girl."

"Leon likes." the man said leering at her. She smiled at him. She didn't look at Vince.

"Who you going out with tonight?" Letty asked.

"Teena. We're going to that concert." she wiggled her eyebrows at the group. "Don't wait up kids." she grabbed her purse and headed out the door.

The concert was awesome. Shea couldn't remember when she'd been to a better one. Velvet Revolver had been good, but Teena was a better companion than Spider had been. Teena had told Shea that if she was straight she'd totally go for her. Teena and Kell were the only ones who knew about her and Vince's bedroom Olympics. They only knew of the once though. She couldn't bring herself to share that first night with anyone. They both thought that the man was an idiot. They were heading to an after concert party at the moment.

"You know girl, you've got to stop denying your feelings for Vince."

"Teens, I do not have feelings for Vince." Shea said for the fourth time that night. "He was merely a sexual tool to be used when needed."

Teena rolled her eyes. "You are so full of it Shea. The both of you are fighting your feelings, and let me tell you it isn't healthy. Trust me girl, I know. I fought who I was for a long time."

"Teens, I think anything I might possibly feel for Vince, can't even come close to you fighting your homosexuality and desire to be a woman."

"Okay, so bad analogy, but you know I'm right." When Shea just looked at her she sighed. "Fine, let's go see if we can get lucky tonight."

"There's my girl." Shea laughed.

Vince sat at the table in the kitchen. It was one in the morning and she wasn't back yet. "What's your problem?" Letty asked from the doorway.

"Nothin."

"Do you want me to call Dom in here to ask? Give it up?"

"Shea isn't back."

"Ah, I see. So, she's probably having a good time."

Vince looked at her sulkily.

"Didn't you say that night you guys were together was a mistake?" Letty sat down across from her friend.

"I know what I said. Then she got so pissed, and she misunderstood, and we didn't talk again. Fuck she was throwing shit, and she'd grabbed those steel toed boots to toss. Now she's back to treating me like a friend."

"Well, shit Vince, you been listening to her and her family lately?"

"What ya mean?" he was truly confused.

"Her sister slept with her fiancé, who hadn't touched her in months. Her step mom picks up on any guy, including ones she's interested in. She's been beaten and treated like shit from most of the men she has chosen to be with, or shown affection to." Vince was starting to understand. "She always downs herself. She runs constantly always saying how fat she is even though she fucking hates it, and she suffers from severe depression. That girl needs a guy that wants her. Not one that wants her for a moment. Not one that wants her to fuck and forget. She needs someone who's willing to basically stand up and say this is my sexy beautiful woman and no one else can have her. Probably why she ends up with such aggressive men." Letty was scaring him with her insight. "The whole thing of you telling her you didn't want anyone to know probably hurt her."

"But she said she didn't want anyone to know."

"Of course she did. Because she probably thought that's what you'd want, considering your reputation with racer chasers. She probably thought you'd only want the one time, and so she was giving you the out. And your dumb ass took it. Smooth one." Letty stood up and left the kitchen. Vince let his head drop onto the table. Yep women were fucking loons. 


	10. Chapter 10

Shea picked her friend Deke up from the airport with a huge grin on her face. This was the someone she'd loved from the moment they'd started hanging out. It had been like love at first sight. She'd known Deke now for six years having met him shortly after moving to South Dakota. He was maybe a quarter of an inch taller than she was, with jet black hair that was forever falling into his dark blue eyes. He had a lanky build, with good muscle tone, and dressed a little punk. He was an attractive guy, and Shea always referred to him as the perfect man. Deke only had one little flaw. Deke was gay.

She hadn't told the others at the house that he was gay, and she'd let Deke know that she probably wouldn't at first. While they had accepted Teena, and even joked around with her now, Shea wanted them to know Deke without the added stigma. She wanted to see if they liked him for him. They stopped for lunch on their way to Shea's new home, and while they ate she told Deke all about Spider and Vince. Her relationship with Deke was so much more open than what she had with everyone else, and he was the only one she told about both experiences with Vince. Where Teena was effeminate; Deke was very masculine and his reaction was one of violence aimed towards the abusive biker.

They got back to the house in the early evening, and she led him in. They were already laughing, and Shea felt so good having her friend with her. Letty and Leon were playing video games while Vince watched. Dom and Jesse were across the room talking about car parts, and Mia was cooking something while Brian kept her company. Everyone looked up as they entered. She introduced him to everyone, and everyone shook hands.

Deke gave them a smile, "I just can't tell you how grateful I am for everything you all have done for Lane here."

"Oh, stop D." she told him and punched his arm lightly. He pinched her side causing her to giggle. "Let's take your stuff up, and I'll show you my room."

Once they were upstairs, Vince turned to Dom. "Where's that guy staying?"

"With Shea." he said and went back to his conversation with Jesse.

They grilled out that night, and the way the two were always touching each other started grating on Vince's nerves. "So you're Vince?" the guy asked looking at him.

"That I am." he said taking a swig of his beer.

"Yeah, Shea's told me a lot about you." he said, and Vince couldn't tell if he knew about him and Shea. "Thanks for handling that Spider freak."

Vince shrugged, "No one messes with one of us."

"Lane likes to pretend she can do everything, and handle everything." Deke said, staring at his friend who was currently talking to Mia. "But she can't. I've seen her hurt too often by guys that she put too much faith in. But now I'm worried that she won't put any faith in any guy. That would be a loss for some guy out there I think."

Vince found himself looking at Shea too. "You knew that Rick guy?" He saw distaste run across the other man's face.

"Yeah. Unfortunately, he started keeping her away from us. I haven't been able to spend as much time with Lane as I'd like to. We'll change that now though." Deke smiled. "Lane!" he bellowed. "I need a beer and a kiss." Vince laughed when she flipped him off. Then she brought another beer over to the man and leaned over giving him a smack on the lips.

"You're so lucky I love your ass, you bitch." she teased. She turned to walk away and he slapped her butt. She laughed and kept going.

"So Shea, what's up with you and Deke?" Letty asked.

"Nothing." she said.

"But yall are so all over each other."

This made Shea laugh. "We aren't like that Let. We're very comfortable in our relationship. We've always been touchy, and affectionate. If you promise not to tell, I'll tell ya a secret." Letty swore and Shea leaned over and whispered in her ear. "Deke is more Teena's type." Letty made an 'Oh' with her mouth. "Deke is someone I can cuddle with and who tells me I'm beautiful, and he loves me." Shea looked at her hands. "Everything with guys gets messed up for me. I need some Deke time." 

"So Deke, you like cars?" Leon asked. "What kind of car you got?"

"They're ok. I own a red Eclipse. I've had like three DUI's, so probably best I don't like fast cars that much. I'm more into music myself. We used to go to karaoke quite a bit, pre-dick." Deke grinned. "We'd get Shea completely cranked on liquor, and make her sing. She's a lot of fun. Gives me an idea for what to do while I'm in town."

"We'll take you to the races too." Jesse said enthusiastically. Lil had shown up and snuck up behind Jesse, causing him to jump.

Someone put music on, and the couples started dancing. Deke excused himself from talking to Leon and Vince, and pulled Shea out where the others were. Shea cuddled into him, and laid her head on his shoulder. It sucked, Vince thought. He liked her friend, but seeing the two of them together caused a bitter taste in his mouth, and his stomach hurt. How could he like the guy and want to kill him at the same time? If he seriously cared about Shea, and seriously wanted her to choose him over Deke, Vince knew he had to figure out a way to show her. He had to figure out a way to win her. Vince swallowed past a lump in his throat. He wasn't an emotional guy, and he didn't like these feelings, but seeing a tear fall from her eye onto the man's shoulder made him want to fight the world for her.

Shea danced with Deke and wished it was someone a little taller; someone a little wider. When had she started looking at Vince as more than a friend? Was it before they had sex the first time? Before the second time? She didn't know, but what she did know is that they called him Ol' Coyote for a reason. She couldn't forget that.

Deke had a great time at the races, and an even better time at the after party. Team Toretto cleaned up, as usual. Everyone seemed to like him, even Vince, which was a miracle. People were dancing in the living room, and Deke pulled her out. It was bump and grind music, and the two had plenty of practice from their years of partying together. They had good rhythm together, and due to their closeness in height looked good. A small circle had started to form around the two. Teena had come as Kyle that night, and he moved up on her to where Deke and Kyle were sandwiching her.

He couldn't take it anymore. Vince strode in, grabbed Shea, and threw his over his shoulder. Then he stormed out of the house with her shrieking on his back. He didn't see the smile on Deke's face, or the shock on his friends. He put her down once he got to the picnic table.

"Vince! What the hell do you--" she started furiously, until his mouth covered hers his hands on either side of her face.

"I can't keep fighting this." he ground out. "I don't know what the hell is going on Shea, but I don't want to lose you. I don't want to lose whatever this is to Deke. He's a great guy and all, which means I'd hate to kill him, but.."

Shea covered his mouth with her hand. "Deke is just my friend Vince. He's gay. I wanted yall to like him for himself, that's the only reason I didn't tell anyone. He's just one of my closest friends."

Vince breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank god, so I don't have to kill him for sleeping with you every night while I lay in my bedroom alone."

Shea gave him a smile. "No, the most exciting thing that happened in my bed these past few days was he painted my toenails." Shea kissed him again, liking the rough feel of him against her.

"We aren't messing around anymore Shea. While you're here, we're together. No other guys, unless they're like Deke, and Kyle, Teena, whatever."

"What about you and your chasers?"

"I haven't been with a chaser since that first night with you." he could tell that shocked her. "How could I follow up what we did with anyone else?" Her eyes lit up at this.

"You say the sweetest things." she whispered. 


	11. Chapter 11

Deke had stayed for his two weeks when he finally had to go back. Shea had dropped Deke off at the airport that morning, and everything had gone down hill from there. She'd cried seeing her friend leave, even knowing she'd see him in a few months when she went home. Then on her way to her car she'd tripped, broken the heel of her new shoes, ripped her pants, and scraped the hell out of her knee and shin. That had made her perturbed. When she thought things couldn't get worse…. They did. She spilled her soda all over her white shirt, and then, four blocks from the garage she reached her milestone, and broke her record.

So, by the time she got to the garage Shea had moved quickly from perturbed, to angry, and finally to severely pissed off. She grabbed the workout bag from the backseat and hobbled to the office. The guys saw her coming and wisely stayed out of her way. She was a mess. Her normally pristine white shirt had wet, brown stains sprayed across the front. Her khaki slacks were ripped and dotted dark brown from drying blood, and it was obvious one of her shoes was fucked up. Her hair which had been pinned back was now messy and coming out of the barrette, but it was her face which kept them away. Vince had gone to the store for lunch and would be returning shortly.

"So, um, you think we should go talk to her?" Letty asked Leon; who was working on an engine with her. They heard the office door slam, and winced.

"I was thinking maybe Vince should talk to her." Leon said cowardly.

"Good thinking." Brian wandered over still staring towards the office.

Dom and Jesse came out of the office quickly, and the door slammed shut again. Dom looked at them bemusedly, "Someone want to tell me why Shea is stripping down in the office, and why it looks like she was hit by a tornado?"

"Shea! What the hell did you do to your car?" Vince was yelling with an annoyed look on his face. He kept muttering as he entered the garage. "Damnit we just fixed the back end." He stopped when he saw the five grouped together. "Where the hell is Shea?"

The office door flung open and Shea stepped out in a t-shirt and shorts. Her right leg was still covered in drying flakes of blood where she'd scraped it up. "SHEA is right here, SO STOP SCREAMING!" She yelled loudly. "Shea is throwing out her brand new white silk shirt and brand new khakis!" For emphasis she chunked the clothes into the large trash barrel. "Shea is throwing out her goddamn $130 pair of suede fucking pumps!" She hurled those into the barrel and they made a loud thunk. "And if I could get the fucking car in this barrel it would be there!" she snarled.

"What did you do to your leg Babe?" he asked calmly seeing as she was a little irrational at the moment. "Did you do that when you wrecked the car?"

Her eyes narrowed. "OOOOhhhh, so you automatically assume that I wrecked the friggin car." She stalked up to him and poked him in the chest with her finger. "For your information buddy boy, I 'did this' to my leg, as you put it, when I fell and broke my shoe and pants at the airport. The shirt got trashed when a BUS swerved near me and I spilled my soda trying to avoid it. The CAR got wrecked when said BUS swerved, once again mind you, into me. Unfortunately, there was a car on the other side, and I couldn't avoid it a second time. So the bus won." She had poked him with each sentence. Now she turned to head back to the office muttering under her breath. "ElevenfuckingaccidentsIcan'tbelievemyshitluck." At the door she turned. "Don't touch my car! I'm working the invoices now." She slammed the door once more.

They all stared at the door. "She's so sweet and docile." Vince said with a grin and headed for the office. He walked in to find her sitting on the couch trying to clean up her leg. Vince pulled up the chair and taking her leg, rested it on his. Without speaking he looked at her stubbornly set face and held out his hand for the cloth and antiseptic. She huffed and handed it to him. "Poor baby." He murmured as he cleaned the wounds. Vince bandaged her up, and moving to sit on the couch, pulled her into his lap where she sat stiffly. He kissed her lightly on the neck and the top of her head.

Shea sat there as he murmured to her and rubbed her arm. Then she started crying. "This has been a horrible day." She sobbed. "Deke left, and I fell. And that bus hit me!" she threw her arms around him. "And I'm sorry I was so horrible and yelled at you."

"It's okay. You've had a rough time." He just held her close while she cried. Something he'd learned about Shea since she'd come to them was that she was an emotional woman, and even with her medicine she had a lot of highs and a lot of lows. If you could ride through the storm you were doing pretty good. As long as you understood Shea it was easier. The thing that tore at him was that he could tell she wasn't used to anyone who understood. It had helped him start to learn to handle his horrible temper. Couldn't have them both losing their minds. Although he'd noticed that when she lost hers he could calm her down, and when he got pissed she normally calmed him down.

Shea finally stopped crying and just leaned on Vince with her head on his chest. She looked up at him and found him staring down at her. He kissed her softly, and she smiled. Then she reached up and kissed him. He kissed her so tenderly, and Shea wasn't used to that. Ever since he'd pulled her out the house night of the races any spare moment they grabbed had been rushed and rough. She hadn't minded it. In fact she reveled in the fact that he found her so desirable. He always seemed to want her and she hadn't had anyone like that in a long time. This kiss was different. It was similar to the kisses they'd shared their first time together.

Vince pulled away and smiled slightly. "I'd better get back to work."

"Yeah. Invoices to work on." They stood up and he patted her on her butt, and headed back to the garage.


	12. Chapter 12

There was only one left until she went home. How had the last five months gone by so quickly? She'd had such a good time. These people in this house; heck in this town even, had become so important to her. They were all grilling out currently and she looked at each of them. Dom and Letty who fought and loved with such passion; Mia and Brian who loved with such sweet honesty no matter what lies had come before; Leon and Hector two men who she trusted like she trusted Deke; Jesse and Lil one was her family and she had a feeling that eventually he would be too, not that he wasn't already; and Vince, well what could she say about Vince. When she'd first come he was so quiet, only talking to his friends mostly, or strumming his guitar. What would he feel when she left? Anything? Or would he move on to the next chaser? She knew it would be difficult for her to go home to her big empty bed, her empty life, but that was where her life was. Not here. Here had been a temporary reprieve.

Shea watched Leon and Vince laughing with Dom talking about some guy's car that had come into the shop today. When was the last time she'd dated, if that's what you could call this, someone her own age? She'd always been with guys several years younger, or several years older. She'd always dated rockers, or in Rick's case the clean cut boys. Vince was neither. So what had attracted her. He was definitely attractive. Everything about him drew her in. He infuriated her and reeled her in all at once. She'd fallen hard for him. She hoped she would be able to pick up the pieces when she finally hit the ground.

"What you thinking about so hard over here?" Letty said coming and sitting next to her.

"I go home soon." she gave the other girl a warm smile. "I was just thinking about all of you."

Letty's face saddened. "One more month, huh?"

"One more month." she agreed.

"Well, we'd better make it a helluva month then girl." her friend told her.

Vince hadn't even thought about what was happening in a month. All he cared about was that he had good friends, a good legal job at the garage, racing, and a good woman. What more could a guy want? He saw Letty and Shea talking about something serious. He knew it was serious because neither of them looked happy. Shea had that far away look in her eyes. He hated that look. Vince wished he could wipe that look away. "Wonder what they're talkin about?"

Letty looked at the stars. "Has he said anything about you leavin?"

"No. I doubt he will. We both went into it knowing it would end."

"Yo, women, what you looking all serious about?" Dom yelled.

Letty was about to answer, but Shea stopped her. "Don't remind them Letty." she said softly.

Letty smiled and nodded. "We're sad that we're almost out of beer." They laughed and Shea smiled her thanks at the other girl. Shea didn't want everyone to be sad. Letty was right. They'd make it a helluva month.

Race night came. The first week they'd come to the races after starting to 'see' each other, Shea had tried to keep her distance from Vince, but he hadn't had any part of that. He'd pulled her up and made her lean against him, and he'd put his arms around her waist. That had gotten some heated looks from some chasers.

Tonight Vince kissed her soundly and walked over with Dom to check out what was happening with the races.

"I just can't believe he'd date that fat, ugly girl." a high pitched voice said snidely. Shea ignored it.

Another voice piped in. "Yeah, can you imagine going to bed with that whale? God, they'd have to put two king size beds together." Again Shea ignored it. Letty however was getting pissed, and had started cracking her knuckles.

"Let. Don't."

"Hey Fatty!" the high pitched voice came again. "I'm talkin to you Fatty!" Shea closed her eyes and sighed. She turned to face the two half dressed skanks. One of the girls was wearing a bikini top with a white lycra mini skirt. She had long black hair that was obviously dyed. The other girl was slightly shorter than Shea with long blonde hair that fell to her ass. She was in jeans that looked like they were painted on, and a bra under a mesh shirt.

"Were you talking to me?" she asked politely. The two girls were smirking at her.

"Well, there aren't any other fat girls around here are there?"

"Well, sure if you count your fat heads." she said dryly.

"You wouldn't be so smart if Dom's woman wasn't here to protect you." the girl hissed.

Letty took a step forward, but Shea stopped her with a hand to her chest. "I don't need Letty to fight my battles little girl. If you think you can take me one at a time, be my guest and try."

The girl grinned and took a step forward. She swung her fist out and Shea ducked. Shea grabbed her hand before she could pull it back, and she swung the girl to the ground. The girl looked up at her from the ground with anger shining in her eyes. She stood up quickly, and jumped at Shea again. Shea moved and hit her in the middle of the back as she went by. Shea looked at the girl on the ground and really hoped she didn't get back up. Shea might not be able to take out someone like Spider, but this girl was nothing. Of course the girl got back up, and turned to face Shea. This was not a smart girl. Shea could see the girl looking at her friend for help. They were also starting to attract attention. The first girl started rushing Shea, and she could hear the second girl coming up behind her. Shea simply stepped out of the way, and the two girls slammed into each other. Shea walked away then towards a laughing Letty. Vince was back at the car and looked at her quizzical look.

"Everything ok?" he asked frowning at the two seething girls.

Shea leaned in and kissed him. "It's fine." No sense in telling him about the catty remarks. Plus it embarrassed her. No need to point out he wasn't with the skinniest girl there. She was sure he'd figured that out by now.

In her mind Shea had a countdown going, and a little part of her wondering if he'd notice, or even care. When he came up to her room with her while the party was still raging downstairs Shea made love to him with an urgency that he didn't quite understand. The next morning he left her sleeping and went downstairs to the kitchen. Letty and Dom were sitting at the table.

"Ok, Let, what happened at the races?"

Letty looked at Vince. "Those sluts were insulting Shea, and she took them down." Vince frowned. Letty knew if he'd known he would have done or said something. He was protective of his friends, and Shea was definitely more than that. "Vince, have you thought about what's coming up?" she asked hesitantly, knowing Shea didn't want to bring it up.

"Race Wars?" he asked.

He was clueless, and she'd promised she wouldn't say anything. "Yeah, Race Wars." she said and only half smiled. Dom was frowning at her. All the men in this house were clueless, she thought angrily. Shea was one of the few women Letty knew and liked. Hell, she loved her. She treated Letty like her little sister. Letty felt like crying, and she didn't fucking cry. "You're all idiots!" she sniffed and left the room. 


	13. Chapter 13

She had decided that she would go home directly after Race Wars. She would go and watch them race and have a good time, and then she'd go back to normal life. Mia had made her promise that she'd come back for her wedding to Brian. He had finally asked, and Shea couldn't be happier for the two. Four weeks left.

She was working in the garage on the books when her cell phone went off. Looking at the display she saw it was her work. "Hello? Yes this is Shea." She frowned at the phone not recognizing the voice on the other line. "Yes, that's right." Shea stood up and began to pace. "Yes, but I was told…" she sat down quickly. "Yes of course, I understand. Well, thank you for calling me." She hung up the phone and stared at it.

"Everything ok?" Dom asked.

"If I don't go back to work on Monday I lose my job." she said softly. "It appears my employer sold the company, and that is what came down from the new owner." Today was Thursday which meant that she'd have to leave Sunday.

"What are you gonna do?"

"Fuck, I don't know." she said wiping her eyes with the heels of her palms. It was like taking one step forward and then two steps back. "Can I take the rest of the day off Dom? I really need to think." She felt like crying, and her head had started to pound. She wasn't ready. She'd thought she had time. Shea stood and started out the door grabbing her purse on the way out. She was almost to the wide garage doors when Vince stopped her.

"Hey where ya goin?"

"I don't know." she said tiredly. "Out, I have some shit to think about."

"Ok, so tell me." he said stillnot letting go ofher arm.

Shea didn't know what happened but she exploded. "You can't fix everything Vince, ok? Fuck! It isn't like you care half the time anyway. I have to figure shit out, and I have to do it alone.So leave me alone. Just leave me the fuck alone right now." She wished she could the words back as soon as they left her mouth. He looked as if he'd been slapped, and then his eyes went hard.

"Fine. I'll leave you alone." Then he turned and walked back into the garage, and away from her.

Shea got into her car and drove away. She ended up at the beach and sat staring at the water. Tears streamed down her face. She couldn't keep on like this. Tearing herself apart trying to be something that everyone from her past had always thought she should be. Shea could hear the voices in her head. Her father always telling her how imperfect and bad she was. The numerous men telling her how fat and ugly she was. Rick telling her she didn't turn him on. Sean telling her she should feel lucky that he'd fucked her because no one else would, right after he'd raped her. She'd spent most of her life believing what everyone else told her to believe. Almost 28 years old and still living behind the shadow of other people's cruelty. Why? Why let all of those people who meant nothing matter all of this time? There comes a time when it time to grow up and stop letting everyone else matter Shea, she told herself.

She wiped the tears from her eyes. She wasn't going back yet. She was staying her four weeks and then she'd go back and find a new job. After she spent this time with her friends. Shea called the woman back and told her she wouldn't be returning. The woman told her that they would box up her personal belongings and mail them to her home address on file. Shea told her fine and ended the call.

When she got home that evening it was very late. She walked into the house and Leon was playing video games. He looked up at her and she gave him a wan smile. He smiled back. Leon didn't know what had happened, but Shea was his friend. Shea trudged past him and up her stairs. She sighed to see her empty room. She had hoped that Vince would be in there so she could cuddle up to him, he would put his arms around her, and everything would disappear. Guilt swam around in her belly. An apology was owed and she had to give it. He hadn't deserved what she'd said. She knew that he cared about her in some way. He wouldn't show her his gentle side if he didn't. It was like he knew what she wanted. Sometimes he was fast and rough, sometimes it was slow, and should she say it, loving, but it was always intense.

Shea changed into her robe and tiptoed downstairs. She went directly to the basement and to Vince's room. He'd always come to her room before, so she felt odd going down there. Knocking softly on the door Shea heard him tell her to enter. She opened the door to find him lying on his bed wearing only sweatpants. He was lying on his back, staring at the ceiling, with his arms under his head. He glanced at her for a moment from under his lashes but didn't say anything. Shea padded into his room, and softly shut the door.

She looked at him lying there. He was so masculine. She'd never been with anyone like him, and had never understood why he'd chosen her. At first she'd thought it was pity, then just because he wanted sex, but now she knew differently. She might not know what it was, but she knew it wasn't one of those things. "I'm sorry Vince." She began softly. "I'm sorry I lashed out at you like that. I got some bad news and I should have thought before I spoke." He didn't say a word to her so she turned with a sigh, her hand on the doorknob.

Vince growled and sprang up from the bed. He slapped his hand to the door to shut it, and trapped her between him and the door. His lips were on hers crushing and biting, and she moaned from the anger and the passion in the kiss. He put one of his hands around the back of her neck and pulled her closer. Kissing down her face he bit at her neck and then licked the red marks. She gasped at the feelings that he was arousing. Shea dug her nails into his back. Vince used his other hand to rip down her robe which exposed a very naked Shea. He groaned as he saw her nipples tighten with her desire. Her hands were working at pushing his pants down.

He wasn't thinking anymore. He wanted her so badly. Within seconds his hands were under her rear pulling her legs up and around his waist. She gasped as he entered her, and he took her there against the wall. When the climax hit her Shea screamed his name. He came right after she did and growled her name. Vince turned them and walked over to the bed. He collapsed with her still clinging to him, and they both lay silently while catching their breath. She laid her head on his sweaty shoulder; her head and hair were just as damp.

He felt horrible. He couldn't believe he'd just taken her against a wall like an animal. "I'm so sorry." He whispered. Shea stretched and winced slightly.

"Sorry? What for?" she smiled languidly. "That was amazing. A girl could get used to a good ravishing like that." She met his eyes and saw the unhappiness. "Baby, I loved every minute of that. Although I have a feeling I'm going to have a nice little bruise on my neck." She saw his eyes widen when he looked where she indicated. "That good huh?"

Shea stood and walked to the small mirror he had on the wall above his dresser. She could see the faint outlines of teeth, and the center was red and already bruising. He'd marked her that was for sure, but she didn't mind. Vince was lying on his side and watched her from the bed. The smooth line of her neck running down her back, and her curved ass attached to long legs. She turned and walked back to the bed and he liked the front even more. He scooted over and patted the bed next to him. Shea laid down and faced him. "I am sorry I was mean."

Vince ran his hand down her bare shoulder and then down her arm. He was pretty much over it now. Amazing what sex did for anger. She thought he didn't care though? Was that how he came off? He would have to change that.

Shea curled into him and whispered, "I just want to enjoy our last few weeks together." Vince was half asleep, but he thought to himself fuzzily, Last few weeks? Did she think she was going anywhere? Because she sure as hell wasn't. She was staying where she belonged.


	14. Chapter 14

Shea was running. It was actually getting easier she thought, and it gave her time to think. The guys had been pleased to know she wasn't going back earlier than what she'd planned. Vince had seemed a little peeved that she'd even considered it. Mia, Letty, and Lil had been horrified at the very thought. God, when had she begun to enjoy running, she startled herself as she realized she was smiling. Shea remembered when she'd first arrived in L.A.. Her first night there at the bar with the people who'd come to mean so much to her.

She needed to get her ass in gear, go inside, and shower. She had to be at work in an hour. Dom had come to her a few days before to ask if she would look over his personal finances for her. She'd known then that it was a big step for him. To let someone who wasn't a part of Team Toretto, and who hadn't been in their lives that long look over something he guarded closely. She'd felt privileged. So she'd told him of course and he'd brought them to her. She'd managed to keep a clear face when she'd seen the account totaling millions of dollars. Well, it certainly explained how they kept everything working, kept their cars in top condition, and didn't seem to worry if they had to close up early occasionally. He'd looked at her, and it seemed like he was waiting for her to ask him about the money, but she hadn't. Shea was sure it hadn't come to them all legally, which might explain Brian a bit more, but it still wasn't her business. She wasn't part of the team. She was only there temporarily. Dom had looked relieved and had smiled when she got to work no questions asked. She'd somehow known she'd made him happy. That made her feel good. Even though they were the same age Shea looked at him like an older brother, and he certainly acted like one.

They'd started keeping a couple of her pills in the office on the days that she forgot to take them, and she was sure that was Dom, Vince, or Mia's doing. She didn't really mind so much, because she did tend to forget them if she was in a hurry. She pulled into the drive of the garage and headed inside. Vince and Leon had their heads buried under the hood of a Miata, Jesse was tinkering with Dom's engine, and Letty was under a car doing an oil change. She headed straight to the office, and found Dom and Brian. Dom was staring at the computer with a frown.

"Shea, where'd the money go?" he asked with a bit of a panic.

Shea sighed and walked around until she was behind him. "Ok, see where it says accounts. Click on that." She waited for him to follow along, and saw the two accounts pop up. "Ok, now this is the one you were looking at, see how the second number is the same with a hyphen 02. Click on that one." He did so and the account popped up showing him all of the money that she'd moved. "This is an interest bearing savings account. All of your lovely money is earning that interest, which in turn earns you more interest as your original amount increases." She smiled, very pleased with herself. She walked back around the desk and sat on the couch. "Now, I've also set it up to where there will always be a certain amount in your checking account. What this will do is make sure bills are covered, and pay for those little extras, but it won't leave all that money there for theft potential. Something you might want to keep in mind is setting up electronic bill pay. That's where you go in, click the button, and pay your bills." Dom was still staring at his computer.

"That's fabulous." He said.

"I know." She said cheekily. She noticed Brian look at Dom and nod slightly. Dom nodded back. Brian walked out of the office, and Shea took her pile of invoices to work on. Within a few minutes though she was looking up as they all filed into the not that big office.

"Shea, we wanted to talk to you about the money." Dom began. "You should know where it came from…"

"No." she interrupted. At his startled look she continued. "Dom it's none of my business. I'm heading back to South Dakota in a few weeks, and you'll be handling it all again." When it looked like he was going to argue she held up her hand. "I know that however you got that money wasn't by legal means." She looked at each one of them in turn. "That's yall's past, and I'm not gonna hold it against you. Truth is the money doesn't affect me. I don't care how you got it." She found herself looking at Vince, and could tell there was something wrong with him. "Now if you all will excuse me, I'm taking my guy to lunch." She stood up and grabbed her purse. Shea sent Dom a look, and he didn't mention the fact that she'd just gotten in less than a half hour before.

They bickered about who was going to drive with Vince winning since he pointed out the side of her car. She stuck her tongue out at him. They grabbed their food and headed to the beach. "I meant it you know." She told him before taking a bite of her seafood sandwich.

"How can you?" he said gruffly.

"Because Vince, you all matter to me. What you did in the past doesn't. Do you still break the law?"

"No." he said emphatically. "After, we all went the straight and narrow except for the street racing."

"Then you aren't going to get arrested, which means I don't have to worry." She shrugged.

He just shook his head. "How can you feel that way? You don't even know what we're gonna tell you. You don't know if we robbed and murdered some rich guy for his money. You don't know if we kidnapped someone and just never got caught. Or if we were drug runners. Even before the money I wasn't a good little choir boy Shea. Are you telling me that you just don't care that I broke the law all that time? How about the fact that I've done time Shea? That doesn't bug you? Knowing the man you're sleeping with did time?"

Shea looked at Vince, and thought about what he was saying. Did it bug her to know he'd been in prison? Especially with how Rick had died? She hadn't known before, would it change how she felt now? "No Vince, it doesn't bug me." Shea realized she was telling the truth. She laid her hand on his bearded cheek. "Obviously you made some bad choices, but you've turned it around now. That makes me proud of you. You're a good man Vincent. A very good man."

Vince was happier by the time they got back to the garage. She left him to go get her work done, and he went back to the engine with Leon. Letty and Dom looked up like guilty teenagers when she entered the office. "Oh now what?" she sighed exasperated.

"Nothin." Letty answered and quickly left the room. Vince was whistling and laughing, and Dom looked at Shea.

"He seems better." He said conversationally.

"Yeah." She answered distractedly.

"You gonna break his heart?" This got Shea's attention.

"What?"

"You gonna break his heart?" he asked again. "When you leave?"

Shea frowned and looked through the window at Vince. "Me leaving isn't going to break his heart. We both knew going in that I would be leaving in six months. He'll be able to get back to his life of racer chasers." She gave Dom a wan smile.

"Think so?" he asked seriously.

"Yeah, I reallydo." She answered just as seriously, and he saw the small frown play across her face.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Coming to the end of this one pretty quick here. Just wanted to let everyone know.**

Letty and Dom lay naked in bed. He had her pulled against him, and they'd just had some seriously awesome sex. "Dom?" she started.

"Hmmm"

"Do you think Vince realizes that Shea's leaving soon?"

Ahh, so this is what Letty had been upset about lately. "I don't know Let. I know that she thinks he'll be all fine with it."

"Really? She doesn't think it'll bug him?"

"Nope. She thinks she'll leave and he'll go back to the chasers." Dom hugged Letty closer. "We'll have to do something to help them out. Maybe if we bring it to his attention that she's going soon."

"I knew there was more than one reason I loved you." she teased.

Later at the garage Letty approached Vince as he was working on an engine. "Say Vince, could I ask you a question?"

He grunted at her and she took that to mean yes. "When Shea leaves are you gonna hook up with that brunette that's been salivating after you?"

He looked at her through narrowed eyes. "What're you talkin about? Shea's not going anywhere."

"But her ticket came in the mail yesterday." She saw his hands clench on the pliers in his hand. Letty walked back towards the car she'd been working on.

He worked on the car for another fifteen minutes until finally he dropped the pliers on the ground and headed for the office. Letty started whistling and hoped she'd done the right thing.

Dom and Shea looked up in surprise as the door was flung open and Vince stalked in. "You got your airplane ticket already?" he ground out.

For a moment she was confused then she looked out the window at Letty who was trying to look innocently at a car in front of her. Someone had obviously been telling tales. Dom got up and left the office. "Yes. They always suggest you plan several weeks in advance."

"You didn't think maybe you should tell me that you did that?"

"Tell you? Vince you've known for almost six months I'd be going home. It's been five, what did you want me to do write it on the calendar?" she said getting annoyed.

"What about here? Why can't here be your home?" he said angrily. "You don't have a job there anymore."

"Vince what's your problem? This shouldn't be such a shock. I thought when we went into this relationship we were clear. I'm going home. My family is there."

"What about us Shea? What about the family you've made here? We're your family too!"

"I know you are Vince. I'm not arguing that. What? Do you expect me to stay until you decide you're bored and go off with some chaser? Before you decide I'm not woman enough?" She was yelling back at him now. She hadn't meant to tell him that. It was her secret fear that Vince would leave her for someone else.

"You think I'd pick some rank-ass chaser over you? Are you fucking mental? I love you Shea. I fucking love you, and you're ready to just turn around and leave me. Leave us, and what we could have. I don't understand that. I don't understand how you can turn your back on everything that you've been given here. Do you not love me?"

Shea was in shock. Vince loved her? "You love me?" she asked in a small voice.

"How could you not know?" he told her. "How could you sleep with me every night and see me every day and not know how much I love you? How could I not love you? You're smart, sexy, tough, and beautiful; you're fun and funny, and all the people who mean anything to me love you too."

"But…"

"No buts Shea. Tell me how you feel about me?"

"I'm scared." she whispered.

"Yeah, well me too. I'm terrified I'm gonna do something and you're gonna walk out of my life. Terrified that you're gonna decide that me having a prison background isn't something you can handle. Life's just like one of those bumper cars you talked about that day Shea. Sometimes we're gonna get knocked around, but damn if we're together we'll pull through it and have a good time. At least I'm willin to try, are you? Tell me how you feel."

Shea looked at him. This man who'd barged into her world. Could she really leave him? She could, but she sure didn't want to. "I love you Vince."

"Then don't leave me." he said and walked towards her. He stared into her lovely eyes. "Don't leave us. Every single one of us wants you here with us."

"How is it that you hardly ever talk, but when you do it's to say the right thing?" she asked.

Vince smiled. "I'm thinking it up all that time I'm not talking."

Everyone was thrilled to know that Shea was staying. They threw a party to celebrate, and Vince only let her out of his sight to dance with one of the guys, Hector, or Edwin. Even then his eyes never left her. He'd have never pictured himself with someone like Shea. She seemed to good to be true, and he was a convicted criminal. But she loved him anyway. That put a smug grin on his face.

"Hey everyone." Dom stopped the music and addressed everyone. "I know this is Shea's party and all, but I have something to say." Everyone looked at him expectantly. "Shea, we love you, and we're so glad you're staying with us and not leaving. I know that Letty loves you like a sister, and so do I. I also know that Letty's going to be needing you, Mia, and Lil for the next few months." Letty looked confused, and Dom walked closer to her. "Because if Letty will have me, then I want her to marry me." There was a small silence and then clapping. Letty was in shock.

Dom held out the ring to her and she stared at it. It was an emerald cut ruby surrounded by diamonds. "I got a ruby because I wanted something different and special for you. It's fiery when it catches the light. Just like you're always fiery."

"Of course I'll marry you." she told him as tears rolled out of her eyes. He slipped the ring on her finger, and kissed her soundly.


	16. Chapter 16

Shea looked at the paper in front of her. If she was staying in Los Angeles then she needed to buy or rent a place of her own. Staying with the Toretto's for six months was one thing, living there permanently was something altogether different. She hadn't sat down with Vince to talk to him about it yet, but for some reason she had a feeling he wouldn't be too thrilled. Vince was definitely a man who didn't approve of change. Shea didn't expect him to move with her; she knew he loved being there with his friends, but he would just have to understand that she wanted her own place. She wasn't looking forward to the discussion. She had circled a few good possibilities when the phone rang and she went to answer it. When she got back Dom and Vince were looking at the paper. Oh it figures, she thought nastily, every time I'm doing something I know he won't appreciate he catches me before I can tell him. Shea sighed and smiled brightly.

"You guys have another appointment coming in tomorrow morning." She told sitting back down at the small desk. "Something about an alligator."

"Alligator?" Dom asked thoroughly confused.

"Whatever helps start the car." She explained. Thinking about it, alligator didn't sound right.

"The alternator." Vince clued in pretty quickly.

Shea smiled, "Yeah that sounds right." She went back to perusing the paper for property.

Dom left the office shaking his head. The woman was brilliant when it came to bookkeeping, finances, and just people in general, but when it came to cars she was the dizziest female he'd come across.

Vince's lips quirked. "Alligator?"

"Oh shut up." She muttered. She'd told them in the beginning she knew nothing about cars. Hell, he'd just finished yelling at her the week before for not telling him about the thumping sound in her engine. Like she'd known it could be serious. She really had thought his head would explode because his face had turned bright red. She'd snapped at him to quit yelling at her because she was an adult, and her car was her responsibility. Then she'd told him she'd take it to another mechanic since it was her responsibility. He hadn't liked that one either.

"What are you looking at?" he said resting his hands on her shoulders.

"Well, if I'm staying here then I need to get a place of my own." She said lightly. "I don't know if I'm going to rent or buy yet, but there are a few good options for both."

"Did Dom tell you that you had to move out?" he asked frowning.

"No, of course not, but Vince I can't live there forever." She looked up at him. "I mean, Dom and Letty will be getting married soon, and they'll want to have some privacy. With you guys living in the basement it won't get in their way too much, but I'm upstairs. Plus I'll want my stuff around me. My furniture, my dishes, my art, and my music, all of that stuff."

"I guess." He told her, the frown not completely gone. "I'll just miss you being there all of the time, ya know?"

"Well Vince, it's not like you'll never see me. Maybe not as much, but still quite a bit. I mean, I'll still be working here a few hours each week."

"What do you mean?" the frown was back in full force. "You come in everyday."

"Actually, I'm looking for a full time job. I've already talked to Dom, and I'll still handle the books and all. With the system I set up it shouldn't take me long to keep everything up to date." Oops, she'd forgotten she had to talk to him about that too.

"So, let me get this straight." He started, and moved away from her. Shea sighed, men were so difficult. "Not only are you getting your own place, so I won't see you at home as much, but you're also getting a full time job that means I won't see you during the day as much. So, I won't see you here and I won't see you there. Do I have all of that right?"

"Yep, pretty much." Shea sighed again as he stalked out the door, slamming it behind him, and went back to work on the eclipse he'd been working on.

Dom and Jesse headed into the office laughing about something stupid some racer had done. They sobered when they saw her looking morosely at the paper. "Guess he didn't take the job thing too well huh?" Dom asked.

"No, nor the finding my own place thing."

"Why you movin?" This came from Jesse. Dom was just frowning. Letty would not be pleased to find out she was thinking of moving. Letty liked her family being together. Letty would make life hell. This was not to be allowed. A happy Letty meant a happy Dom.

"Several reasons actually. I was only staying six months. This is a permanent move, at least currently it's a permanent move." She tried to backtrack seeing both of their frowns deepen. Shit. "I meant I'm staying, but should have my own place. Plus, Dom and Letty are getting married. I'm sure yall will want your own privacy. With the guys in the basement you can still have that. But I'd be forever traipsing up and down the stairs." Good grief, she was starting to sound like a friggin parrot. Shea wants her own place, caw caw, Shea wants her own place.

"You're fine where you are. There's plenty of room at the house. You don't even need a full time job if you don't want one." Dom told her in a tone that brooked no discussion, and left the office. As if that would settle the entire matter.

Jesse just grinned at her. Men were definitely difficult creatures. Sometimes it was almost enough to make you want to bat for the other team. Almost.


	17. Chapter 17

When she called her brother to let him know she was staying in L.A. and buying a house, he was surprised to say the least. He told Shea that he honestly thought she would come back since she and Anda had made up. Shea assured him that everything was fine with her and Anda, but she was ready to start her life again, and wanted it to be here. She arranged to go back for a weekend soon to pack her stuff up and have it shipped. She called Deke next, and he was ecstatic for her. By the time she got off of the phone with him she was pretty sure he was over halfway convinced to move out there with her.

Vince was still upset with her, but he'd have to get over it. If he didn't, oh well, she was staying in L.A., and she was still hanging out with the Toretto's. He'd just have to get over it. Frankly the whole thing was making her pissy. They weren't in college living in a frigging dorm, and they weren't living at their parent's house. Everyone had to grow up eventually. No matter how much you love your friends and family. Currently she was sitting at the kitchen table, drinking a soda and calling to set up appointments to look at houses. So far everyone had left her in peace.

"Shea, what's this I hear about you moving out?" Letty entered the kitchen with a frown.

Shea had just hung up, and looked up a bit startled. "I want to buy my own place. Somewhere close by, that way we can still hang out, but it gives us privacy and our own space. Less people to trip over ya know?"

"So, we didn't piss you off or anything?"

"No, not at all. I just like having that place I can call my own, where I can shut everyone else out for the day, or night, or whenever." She assured her friend. "There are several places near here I'm gonna be looking at."

Letty sat down to look at the advertisements that Shea was looking at. "Some of these look good." She said with surprise in her voice. "When are you going?"

"Tomorrow."

"Vince going?"

Shea snorted. "No. Vince is anti 'operation find my own place'. He will not be accompanying me."

"Want me to go?" she offered.

"Really?" Shea asked, again surprised. "You'd do that?"

"Well, you shouldn't go alone. Plus, I wanna make sure you get a nice place to live."

By the time she went to bed that evening she was pretty peeved with Vincent. So, ignoring him, she told Letty she'd see her in the morning, and headed up to bed.

"What's going on tomorrow?" Dom asked.

"I'm going with Shea to house hunt." Vince gave her a death glare. "What? She shouldn't go looking by herself, and NO ONE else was going, so I offered." She dropped a kiss on Dom's mouth, and headed up to bed herself.

About an hour later Shea heard her door creak open, and Vince's familiar footfalls. Within moments he was crawling into bed with her and had pulled her back up against his front. She relaxed and let herself drift off to sleep with him holding her. The next morning she left him sleeping and headed downstairs for some coffee before the hunt began. Letty was already up and waiting and Mia was with her.

The first two houses they looked at weren't great. Too much work would have to go into them, and one looked like it was a crack house at one point in Shea's opinion. The third house was better, but it was the fourth house she fell in love with. It was also very close to the Toretto house. The house was located at the end of the street on the road that ran perpendicular to the road their house was on. It had three bedrooms, two and a half baths, and a finished basement. There was an enclosed sunporch at the entry, and a small fenced in backyard where she could have barbeques, or whatever. At the back of the yard was a small fenced in garden area. Shea thought the house was meant for her. It was well within her budget, cute, close to her friends, and it had a sunken spa tub. What more could a girl ask for.

Mia and Letty agreed. So she started the paperwork and put in her offer. Until she heard back she would be a nervous wreck. They were filled with excitement by the time they got home, and Letty called Dom to tell him they were going to Sins to celebrate. Dom told her they would meet the women there after work. By the time the guys did get there Letty and Shea were well past tipsy, and Mia was laughing at them.

"What are we celebrating?" Dom asked amused.

"I found the prefect housh." Shea slurred, "No, that isn't right. I…found…the…perfect…house."

Vince slung his arm around her shoulders. She was so cute when she was drunk. "Oh, yeah, and where is this jewel?" Letty told him, because Shea was nuzzling his neck, and he was startled. That was close by. "Is that the gray one with the white trim?"

"It sure is." Mia answered. She was trying to control her laughter as she saw Shea whispering in Vince's ear and he was turning bright red.

"I think I'd better take Shea home so she can sleep off the drink." He stood up so quickly, Shea almost fell over. He pulled her out of the bar to the sound of their friends laughing.

The minute they got in the car Shea had put her hand on his thigh. "Shea, behave!" he said half heartedly.

Her hand moved up his thigh. "I think we should park and have sex on the car."

"On the car?" he nearly shouted.

"Or in it, as long as you're in me, I'm good with both."

"Jesus Shea, you're gonna give me heart failure. Sex in a car like this in inadvisable." He told her trying to calm himself down. The way she was talking was not helping his libido.

"I'm really flexible Vince. I can bend and we could make it work." Her hand was now hovering over his crotch, and he slapped it away. They pulled into the drive and she was pouting.

Vince leaned over the console between them and crushed his lips to hers. His hands were already working on her button down shirt. Panting he groaned, "Baby, we really can't do it in here." His arm was in an uncomfortable position, and Shea realized this. They got out of the car quickly and looked at each other's disheveled appearance.

Shea kept hold of his eyes and stripped off her top. "The picnic table." She breathed lustily. Vince just nodded.


	18. Chapter 18

Vince picked her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist. Her bra covered breasts were crushed to his chest, and the fabric of his shirt and her bra rubbed against her nipples eliciting small groans from her. They reached the table and he set her bottom on it. Shea was already tugging his shirt over his head. She kept her legs hooked around him, and was smiling widely. He pushed the long skirt she was wearing up to her thighs; his hands were reveling in the feel of her smooth skin of her legs. Reaching up under the skirt he found she wasn't wearing panties. "Shea was a naughty girl this morning." He panted a feral grin overtaking his face. She constantly amazed him.

"Yeah, aren't you glad now though?" she said breathlessly. She unbuckled his belt quickly, and started working on the button and zipper.

Dom and Letty entered the house. "I wonder where they are?" she frowned noticing none of the lights were turned on. The car was in the drive. That was odd.

Hearing a noise out back, Dom looked out the small window of the kitchen door. The sight before him caused mixed emotions. Embarrassment at seeing his friends in the middle of something so personal, and a jump in his blood pressure at the pure passion between the two. "Letty, come here." He murmured quietly. She moved to him, and he turned her to face the window.

"Oh my." She breathed out heavily.

Shea had finally gotten Vince's pants undone and pushed down. He was so hard, and she ran a hand over his erection. Meeting his dark eyes, she guided him to her, and into her. They found a rhythm, and he held her to him, their lips intertwining.

Letty stood with her back to Dom, and slowly his hands made their way from her waist, up under her shirt, and to her breasts. "We shouldn't be watching this." He whispered in her ear.

"Probably not." She agreed. But it was turning her on. She'd never known something like that would, but it was. "I never thought of using that table for that." She groaned as one of his hands moved lower.

"We will now." He groaned against her hair.

Letty could feel the hardness of him against her back. She turned slowly. "Let's go upstairs." He swung her up and over his shoulder moving quickly.

Vince could feel himself getting close, and knew she was too by the way she was whimpering. "Oh God Baby." As soon as he moaned she hit her climax, shuddering around him. He followed shortly after.

Vince slid out of her and noticed the slight frown that creased her brow. He pulled up, and fastened his pants quickly and swung her back into his arms. She had his shirt still in her hands. Shea cuddled into him and sighed. "I love you so much Vince." She told him sleepily.

"You do huh?" he smiled.

"Yep. After loving you, it made me realize that whatever I felt for anyone else wasn't love. How could it be?" she had a confused note to her voice. "You're so very special, and you always make me feel beautiful."

He chuckled. "You are beautiful. I don't know how you picked an ol' coyote like me."

"Pshhhttt." She snorted. "I got lucky and you picked me."

That startled Vince. Never before had anyone ever acted like him being there was good. His friends were happy he was there, but never a woman. Especially not a woman like Shea. She was different from any kind of woman he'd ever been with. Maybe that's why he'd fallen for her so hard. And she thought he was special.

The next morning Shea and Vince headed downstairs for breakfast and found everyone already in the kitchen. Leon had a smirk on his face, and Jesse was trying not to laugh.

"Hey Shea." Leon began. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure?" she answered pouring herself some coffee.

"What was your shirt doing on the ground next to V's car?" He held up the item in question. As soon as he finished the question Jesse and Brian started snickering, Dom and Letty turned red, and Mia just told them to shut up.

Shea smoothly took the shirt from him, and smiled. "It must have fallen off. I just hate it when that happens." She said cheekily. Leon turned bright red, which made everyone laugh at him.

Her cell phone rang so she left the kitchen. She wanted to be able to hear the person on the other line. Within minutes she was walking back into the kitchen with a dazed look on her face.

"You okay Shea?" Mia asked concerned.

Vince stood and moved to her side to make sure she was okay.

"I'm fine." She assured them. "I got the house. That was my realtor and they jumped at my offer."

Vince felt something drop in his stomach, but he told himself that he needed to be happy for her.

"That's awesome girl!" Letty said jumping up to hug her.

"I have to make plans." She said, talking to herself now. "I have to go back to South Dakota to get my stuff. I have to look into home owners insurance." Her eyes had gotten big, and she sat down heavily. Shea looked up and into Vince's blue eyes. "I have a house."

The realtor told her she'd be able to move in after a thirty day escrow period. Vince dropped her off at the airport the week before she was to move in. He seemed tense and she knew it was because she'd be gone the week, and then be busy moving into the new place. Shea didn't really know how to make him feel better.

She had a blast at home. Shea made sure to spend time with her brother and his wife, her sister and Richie, and even Louise and Shea's real mom, Roberta. It wasn't as difficult to pack up the home she'd rented with Rick as she'd thought it would. Not difficult at all to get rid of his stuff. She made sure to give some of it to Amanda for Richie. He should have some of his father's stuff. She called and talked to Vince every night, and could he got antsy when she told him her friends were taking her out for a goodbye party. All she could do was tell him she loved him.

Vince wasn't doing well with Shea gone. He would snap at everyone, or he would start getting worried she wouldn't come back. It was Friday and they were going to the races. She would be coming home that Sunday. She'd told him she would drive down with the moving van, and they'd be leaving Saturday.

The races went well, and Vince won his race. He wished that Shea could have been there to see it. The girl she'd fought with several weeks before was there, and she kept hitting on him. He told her to get lost several times. Once they got back to the house he proceeded to get royally intoxicated. He couldn't even see straight. He went downstairs to his room, and lay down on the bed with his legs hanging over the side. Vince was dozing lightly, envisioning Shea, when the door opened and someone straddled him. He grinned, not opening his eyes. A hot mouth licked along his neck.

Shea crept quietly in through the back door. People were partying everywhere, but she didn't see any of her current roommates. After she'd gotten off the phone with Vince that morning she'd missed him so much. She'd said to hell with it, sold the car, and booked a flight home. She felt bad that she'd missed the races, but she was here now. Shea headed directly to his room. She was going to surprise him when he came to bed that night. She almost giggled at the thought.

As she approached the door, she saw the light on and the door ajar and she heard voices. "Get off me! I told you I got a girlfriend." she heard Vince slur.

Looking into the room she became livid. Vince was lying down, and the girl she'd fought with was on top of him. Her lipstick was smeared all over his face, and his shirt was off. The girl's hands were busy with his pants. Vince's hands were on her arms. Pain sliced through Shea's belly. Shea moved quickly grabbing the girl by the hair, her hand close to the scalp. The girl yelped in pain.

Vince looked at her startled. "Shea, baby, it isn't what it looks like."

"You don't look sober enough to tell me what it looks like Vince." She snarled and pulled the girl from the room. She didn't know if Vince was following or not, and at this point she didn't particularly care. Shea kept a tight hold on the girl, not letting her go. The girl was sobbing as Shea's nails dug into her scalp. "I thought we had this out a few weeks ago bitch." Shea hissed.

They had made it upstairs and Letty was in the kitchen with Leon. Their eyes widened at the sight. Shea was beyond pissed, and the other girl was bent over trying to alleviate pressure from Shea's grip. The girl's friend came running into the kitchen at Shea. "Let her go you hag!"

Without even slowing down, Shea turned dragging the first girl with her, and plowed her fist into the second girl's mouth. The second girl dropped to her ass stunned. Vince had finally made it up the stairs and Letty and Leon gaped at the lipstick smeared over his face, neck, and chest. "Leon, tell Dom to get rid of everyone." Letty murmured. Leon nodded once.

Shea pulled the first girl's face close to hers. "I ever see you near him again, or near me again, I will hurt you. Do you understand?" her words were said so seriously, all the other girl did was sob and nod. At the door she finally let her go, and the girl hauled ass out of the house. Her friend was close behind her. Shea took a deep breath; fury and hurt were still riding close to the surface. She turned to see Vince behind her. Not saying a word she pushed past him.

"Shea, I told her I wasn't interested." He began.

"Oh, I heard you Vince. I don't think now is the best time to talk about this."

"It damn sure is." He said, the amount of alcohol he'd had probably wasn't helping the situation.

A muscle in Shea's jaw twitched. "Fine. You wanna talk. I come home EARLY, so I can surprise you to find the man who says he loves me in bed with another girl. Sure I heard you tell her. But you know what Vince? It didn't look like you were fighting her off too hard. Big, strong man like you couldn't get the hundred pound female off of you. Must have been so difficult." Sarcasm was thick in her voice, and it made him angry.

"Damn it Shea!"

"NO!" she screamed, tears streaming down her face now. "Damn you Vince! So, every time I go out of town I come home to find you so shit faced you can't move a girl off of you, with her hands down your pants? Bullshit! Damn you Vince." Her yelling had turned to a whisper. She turned and left him there, heading straight for her room and locking the door behind her with an audible click.

Vince strode downstairs to his room, and finally looked into the mirror at his face. Shit. He wiped the red lipstick off quickly. With a yell he slammed his fist into the wall, leaving a gaping hole.


	19. Chapter 19

Shea lay in her room sobbing. Seeing that woman pawing him, her lipstick all over him, it had just been too much. Rationally she knew she shouldn't take it so hard, he had told the woman to get off of him, and he was extremely intoxicated. But Shea wasn't feeling very rational at the moment. Her heart ached, her throat hurt from crying, and she was pretty sure she'd come down with the flu when she'd been back home. Someone knocked lightly on the door, and she went to open it.

"You okay Chica?" Letty asked with compassionate eyes.

"I'll be fine." She sniffled. "I'm just tired. I'm going to go to bed, and then tomorrow I'm going to sign the papers for my house. Then I'm going to clean it.

"Ok, if you need help, let me know."

"How did the races go?"

Letty grinned. "I raced and won. Dom raced and won, and Vince raced and won."

Shea's eyes widened slightly. Vince didn't race much, not with his arm the way it was now. Explained the inebriation. "That's wonderful."

"Yeah, that slut wouldn't leave him alone at the races. Kept coming on to him, and he kept telling her off. We came back here and he got shitfaced pretty quick. He went down to his room about ten minutes before you got here, so she must have snuck down there. I know he was really looking forward to you coming home Shea."

Now Shea felt terrible. Maybe he would have pushed her off. Maybe Shea had just arrived and started kicking ass before he had the chance. Maybe she should have let him explain. Seeing her friend was lost in her thoughts, Letty left the room shutting the door behind her.

When had she become the person who judged without listening first? Vince had never done anything to make her think he'd cheat on her, yet she'd automatically assumed that he would. She was scared. Shea realized this and she felt as though she'd been plunged into icy cold water. He terrified her. He loved her now, but a part of her thought that he wouldn't always. So that small subconscious part of her had jumped at the scene and snatched it up like candy. More fuel to the fire of her insecurities. Something else to torture herself with.

Was she so terrified of losing him, of him not loving her anymore that she would destroy their relationship instead of seeing where it went? Yes, she admitted, because that's what she was doing. Dropping him before he could drop her. Shea's heart and mind were at war. Her heart had made the decision to stay, but her head was telling her the same thing she'd heard for so long. You aren't good enough, you aren't lovable, and he won't stay.

She couldn't live like this. She couldn't expect him to live like this. It wasn't fair for her constant insecurities to rear their head between her and Vince. He deserved more. Perhaps it would be better if she gave him some space. Shea felt exhausted, so she crawled under her sheets and went to sleep. As she was drifting she knew that she would need to at least talk to Vince the next morning.

Shea awoke to her bedroom door slamming open and Vince stalking in. "You are going to listen to me, and listen good." He said loudly. Her eyes were wide with shock. "I didn't touch that girl, and didn't want to touch that girl. I was in the process of getting her off of me when you showed up! What do you do? You freak out and decide that I must be cheating on you! Damn it Shea, don't you know better?"

"I'm sorry." She offered quietly. "I do know better. I'm sorry my insecurities got the better of me."

That seemed to take some of his steam away. "Oh. Well, good. I'm sorry I got drunk and didn't handle the situation better."

"You deserve better Vince. This isn't fair to you." She said not meeting his eyes. "Maybe we should spend some time apart."

"WHAT!" he exploded. "FUCK THAT! Fuck. That. Shea." He stalked to the bed and pulled her up against him. "I had enough fucking time apart while you were fuckinggone for the last fucking week. I had so much fucking time that I fucking thought I'd lose my fucking mind." He growled. "And if you EVEN mention that stupid idea again I will spank you." With that he crushed his lips to hers hard enough to bruise. When she wrapped her arms around him he softened the kiss considerably.

He finally pulled away from her only to see her burst into tears. "Baby, what's wrong? Did I hurt you?"

"No." she sobbed.

"Why are you crying?"

"I don't know." The tears started harder than before.

"Have you been taking your medicine?"

"Yes." She emphasized by nodding.

Vince pulled her up against him again, and started rubbing her back. "It's okay baby, we're going to be okay."

Shea couldn't stop crying. Well, she would stop crying, but then she would start again at the drop of a hat. She figured it was because of the flu. Her body hurt, she was puking every hour or so, and she was positive she had a fever. With the help of Team Toretto she managed to get her house cleaned up. She wouldn't let Vince kiss her anymore because she didn't want him to catch whatever crazy bug this was. He liked her house, she could tell. His eyes had gleamed when he'd seen the sunken tub, and the finished basement.

When they were done at her house they headed back to the Toretto house to grill out. Shea couldn't eat very much and Vince was getting worried. She looked extremely pale. After dinner they went inside and she lay with her head in his lap while they all watched a movie. He became more concerned when she was asleep within the first ten minutes.

The next day dawned bright and clear, and Shea woke up excited. The moving van would be arriving in the next half hour or so, and then her house would be ready. On Monday they were coming to hook up her phone, internet, and cable. One of the bedrooms would be set up as her office, but the bigger of the two would be a guest room. She couldn't wait to get her furniture in the master bedroom. She'd bought the king size bed after Rick had died. She'd fallen in love with the wrought iron head and foot board set.

The movers got there and along with help from Dom, Vince, Leon, Brian, her cousin Eric, and Jesse, they got Shea unloaded into the house. Then Mia, Letty, Lil, and Shea went to work unpacking. Shea hadn't eaten yet that morning because she was still throwing up so often, and she was quite pale with dark circles under her eyes. She made sure to drink plenty of water that way she stayed hydrated and so she had something in her stomach to vomit. Shea hated to dry heave. The guys were sitting in her living room drinking beer and talking about cars.

"I think I'm going to paint my room a sage green color." She mused.

"Are you painting in here?" Letty asked looking around the kitchen.

"Yeah, probably. Maybe a harvest orange color on that wall, sort of as a focus, and then the rest of the walls could be almost like a butter-cream."

"That sounds pretty Shea." They talked for a while longer on what her decorating ideas were and when it got late they headed home.

Vince nuzzled Shea's neck. "You gonna stay here tonight?" he asked gruffly.

"Yep." She told him. "You gonna stay here with me tonight?"

"Thought you'd never ask."


	20. Chapter 20

Tuesday morning Shea sat in her doctor's office waiting for the man to enter. The nurse had told her she didn't have a fever, but she'd already thrown up since she'd been there. Finally Dr. Morrow entered and shook her hand.

"Well Shea, looking at your chart it looks like you've lost fifteen pounds since you were here two weeks ago." He frowned. "That's sort of drastic."

"I haven't even been running." She told him. "For the past week I've been sick as a dog. Everything smells funny, my body aches, constantly nauseous, and I've been getting headaches."

"No fever. There has been a stomach bug traveling around for the past month. All through the U.S. I'm thinking that's probably what you have. Tell you what, I'll give you something for the nausea and if you aren't better in a couple of days I want you to come back in, okay?"

"Okay Doc." She sighed.

Shea got her prescription filled and headed to the garage. She still hadn't found a job, but she wanted to. Technically she didn't need a job, but she wanted something to keep her busy. When her grandfather had passed away he'd left her a small trust fund. Normally though she didn't go near it. She just let it draw interest. She really enjoyed working for Dom, but that was really only taking an hour or so a day now. It ended up leaving her with a lot of free time. Sure, she'd be able to spend some of that time fixing the house up, but she still wanted something else. Maybe a part time job.

When she got into the office she stopped in utter shock. Someone had put some dirty engine part on a stack of brand new invoices. The invoices weren't even in the neat and tidy pile she'd left them in the day before. She stood looking blankly at the engine part. She didn't even know what the hell it was.

"Hey Chica, what's up?" Letty asked walking into the office.

"Someone…" Shea began, and without any warning tears started flowing. "Someone put that horribly, dirty thing on my invoices. Now they're a mess." She sobbed.

Letty looked at Shea with wide eyes. What the hell? She moved up to Shea and began rubbing her back. "It's okay Shea. I don't know who put the oil filter there, but we'll move it."

"But they're dirty and oily now."

"Well, that's okay. It is a garage, right?"

Shea sniffled. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"What did your doctor say?" Letty asked as she picked up the oil filter with a rag from her back pocket.

"That I have the stomach bug that's been going around. He gave me something for the nausea, but said it would have to go away on its own." Shea was wiping her eyes. She felt like an idiot. "I don't know if I'm just tired from all the traveling and packing and unpacking, but I keep getting all emotional. Maybe my drugs are off."

"Well, damn Shea. You just packed up and left your old life behind. Moved into a brand new place. Just got over a big fight with V, and you have the stomach flu. I think you're entitled to be a little emotional."

Vince came storming into the office. "Ya know, I really don't like kids." He muttered.

"What's wrong V?" Letty asked.

"Just an awesome car destroyed by demon spawn. Chewing gum everywhere, melting candy crushed into the floorboards and seats, and god only knows how, but I found crumbs in the radiator. Not on, or around, but IN it." He ran his freshly cleaned hands through his hair. "I'm never havin kids." This sent Shea into fresh sobs.

"Nice V, real nice." Letty said scornfully. She dragged Vince out of the office and socked him in the arm. "You idiot, Shea wants kids but she can't have them! There you go running your mouth about not wanting kids."

"Well shit Letty, I wasn't thinking about that. I mean Shea and me haven't been together that long. Kids normally come with marriage. I'm not really the marryin type." Vince had paled.

"I doubt she's thinking marriage moron." Letty snapped. "She's not feeling well, she has this stupid bug, and the man she loves and who SAYS he loves her just said he didn't want kids. Gee who does that sound like I wonder?" Letty smacked him in the arm again and stalked back into the office slamming the door behind her.

"What is it with the women around her?" Vince asked plaintively, while rubbing his battered shoulder.

Shea had gotten to work by the time that Letty returned to the office. Her eyes were still a little red, but not too bad. "Men are idiots." Letty muttered.

Shea smiled. "Yeah. Pretty much. But, really with Vince's past, who can blame him for not wanting kids? I certainly don't. I'm just being emotional and letting all these little things get to me." Nausea hit her and she went running for the door. Vince had just walked back in and was about to speak when she slammed into him, and ran past with her hand over her mouth.

Vince followed her outside where she'd managed to throw up on the side of the building. He brushed her hair out of her face. "So much for the pills to take care of the nausea." She gasped.

"Did he at least say how long this would last?" Vince asked and she heard the concern in his voice.

"He said if it hadn't stopped in a few days to go back in." she leaned her head against the warm brick of the building.

"Wait here. I'ma go talk to Dom and then I'm taking you home and putting you to bed." He said and left her there for a short time.

By Monday Shea wasn't any better so Vince sent her back to the doctor. The man looked perplexed and decided to run some blood work. A little less than half an hour later the doctor came back. "Well Shea, it isn't the stomach flu."

"What is it then?"

"You're pregnant."

Shea's mind went blank. "Um, no."

"Yes you are."

"Um no, that's impossible."

"I agree, all of your medical workups in the past have made it seem like there wasn't much chance, but trust me you are pregnant."

She was shaking her head in disbelief. "Ok, but even without the whole medical thing, I'm on the Pill."

"Yes, and you need to stop taking those immediately." He told her while scribbling on his prescription pad. "I want to set up a more complete appointment for you in two weeks. We'll find out how far along you, although I'm guessing just short of two months. No drinking alcohol, get plenty of rest, and plenty of fluids. I'm giving you a prescription for prenatal vitamins. You can fill it downstairs in the pharmacy."

Shea left the doctor's office and went to the beach where she and Vince had discussed his past so long ago. At least it seemed like so long ago. Her hand found its way to her belly. How could this have happened? That almost made her laugh; she was pretty sure she knew how it had happened, but they'd always told her it wouldn't. She was having a baby. Her own precious baby. Vince's baby. Oh God. He wouldn't be happy. Not at all. She had to tell him though. He would probably walk out of her life at that. The thought almost made her cry, but she didn't. If he walked out that was okay. They'd get along just fine. She hoped though that he'd want to know his child. Shea realized she had no idea how he was going to react. It scared her. Not that he would ever hurt her, at least not physically, but not knowing his reaction was terrifying. She came out of her thoughts with a jolt to realize her phone was ringing. She looked at it and saw that she'd had six calls since she left the doctor's office. Funny, she hadn't heard them. The first four were from the garage; the last two were from Vince's cell. She saw the time and frowned, she hadn't realized she'd been out here that long.

Shea headed straight home. She didn't call Vince because she had no idea what she'd say to him over the phone. No sweetheart, it isn't a stomach bug, surprise you're going to be a daddy. Yeah, she didn't think that would fly real well. She pulled into her driveway, and managed to make it into her house in a daze.

She was sitting on her couch when Vince stormed into her living room. "Christ Shea, you don't answer your phone now?" She could tell he was annoyed.

"I'm sorry Vince, I had a lot on my mind." She managed to say calmly.

"Oh, no problem, just going out of my mind thinking you'd wrecked the car or something." He said in an exasperated tone. Vince sighed and realized she was just sitting there. "What'd the doctor say?"

Shea laughed shakily. "Funny you should mention that." She cleared her throat and met his eyes. "I'm pregnant."

"What?" he asked blankly. "You said you couldn't get pregnant, and you were on the pill?"

"Yes, that's what I told the doctor, but he assured me though slight, the possibility was obviously there." Her eyes narrowed. "I swear to god Vince, if you ask me if it's yours, or ask me if I'm getting rid of it, I'll kill you."

Vince sat down on the chair across from Shea. "I wouldn't ask either of those Shea." He sighed. "I just don't know. I don't know how I feel, or how I'm supposed to feel."

She nodded. "Yeah. I understand that. I don't expect anything of you Vince. Just so you know. If you want to be part of the baby's life, that's cool, but I don't expect it." She kept the tears she was fighting at bay. "I'd really like to get some sleep now if you don't mind. I'm real tired."

Vince nodded. "Okay. I'll talk to you tomorrow then." He got up and walked out of the house. Shea locked the door and went to her bedroom. She curled up in the middle of the bed and sobbed. What was that Don Henley song, 'But there's a danger in loving somebody too much; And it's sad when you know it's your heart you can't trust; There's a reason why people don't stay where they are; Baby sometimes love just ain't enough


	21. Chapter 21

Shea stayed home the next day. She called Dom and let him she wouldn't be in. Unless Vince had told them, which she doubted, they didn't know about the baby yet. It was raining out. She found herself staring out the back window at the rain drenched yard. Life was going to be a whole lot different now. Just her and her child. From Vince's reaction she sort of got the impression that he wouldn't be partaking in the preparing or raising of said child. It made her incredibly sad, but she couldn't force him to want the same things. She would always love him though. Shea decided she would give it some time before she made herself known again. Maybe staying away for awhile would give him some space. Then she could hang out without him feeling any pressure.

"Knock knock." Mia called out before entering. She left her umbrella out on the small porch and walked in to see Shea by the window. "Hey there, everything okay?"

Shea turned and gave Mia a wan smile. "Yeah, I'm good."

"Did you want to come over and have some dinner?" Mia asked starting to worry. With a shriek Letty raced into the house laughing. She shook the raindrops from her hair.

"She coming?" Letty asked upon seeing them.

"No, I think I'm gonna stay home tonight." she told them and hoped they'd leave it at that.

"Are you and Vince fighting?" Mia asked quietly.

"Again?" Letty sighed.

"We're not exactly fighting." Shea said quietly and went back to staring out the window. "I'm not so sure that Vince and I will be seeing each other anymore."

The girls realized that this was serious by the tone in Shea's voice. "What's going on Chica?" Letty asked approaching Shea.

Shea turned to face her friends. "I want you to keep in mind that this is all new. None of it is Vince's fault. So don't go ragging on him, or blaming him for anything."

"We promise." Letty told her solemnly.

"I'm pregnant." There was a moment of silence and then both the girls squealed with delight.

"Shea that's awesome! Are you so excited? Oh my god! And they said it wouldn't be possible." Letty was smiling widely.

"Yeah, I'm pretty excited. Just getting used to it."

"So much for it being impossible!"

"Shea, why aren't you seeing Vince anymore?" Mia interrupted. Letty looked at them both and stopped smiling.

"I told him last night. I don't think Vince wants children. He didn't know how to take it, but then again, I really didn't expect it to go well. I mean, he probably feels like I lied to him. I was on the pill, the doctors said I couldn't get pregnant, but here I am… Pregnant."

The three sat quietly. "I told him I don't expect anything. That if he wants to be part of the baby's life that's great, but that I'd understand if he didn't."

"That's bullshit Shea. He needs to step up. You didn't get pregnant by yourself." Letty said angrily.

"Letty, we've been dating six months, maybe a little more. That doesn't mean we'll be together forever." Shea leaned forward and brushed hair off of Mia's face. She looked close to tears. "Mia, I'll be fine. I love Vince, and I know he loves me, but we all know that doesn't mean everything works out."

"But it should." she whispered.

"In a perfect world." Shea smiled wistfully and looked out the window again. "I'm still staying. I'm just gonna give it some time before I start coming around again. I think that's for the best. But I hope you both come visit me."

"You couldn't keep us away." Mia said and hugged Shea.

"Good. I almost forgot to tell you. I have an interview at the hospital tomorrow. Part time with benefits. That's pretty important now." she laughed shakily.

"We're gonna be here for you girl." Letty told her. "That baby is just as much part of the team as everyone else. So are you."

"Thanks Letty." They left shortly after that. Shea locked up, ate some soup since the new medicine seemed to help the nausea, and headed to bed.

The next day her interview went well, and she was hired right away. Sucking in a nervous breath she headed to the garage right afterward. She was still in the suit that she interviewed in, and when she walked in Letty whistled. "Damn Shea, you dress up nice."

She'd worn one of her gray suit skirts that hit her three inches above her knees. It left a long expanse of leg shown, and with all of the running her legs looked stunning. She also wore a silk tank in a vibrant purple, and a blazer that went with the skirt. It buttoned at the waist and emphasized her breasts, waist, and hips. Before the interview she'd gone and cut her hair back into the short, sleek bob that she'd had when she first came to Los Angeles. Shea smiled at Letty and continued into the office. "Hey Dom." she said airily.

"Hey Shea." he greeted her with a smile. Letty hadn't said anything to him last night, but something was up with Shea and Vince. In fact, Letty had been uncharacteristically quiet the night before. So had Mia. When he'd asked if Shea was coming they'd told him not that night. He'd looked to Vince, but he'd had a blank face. "Missed you last night."

She smiled. "Thanks. I missed you guys too. Just had a lot of stuff to do. I had a job interview today."

"Oh really?" he asked interested. He was about to ask more when Vince entered the office.

"Hey Shea."

"Hey Vince."

"Hey Dom, have you seen that invoice for Chuck Redding?" he asked.

Dom felt the tension in the air as soon as Vince had entered. Uh oh. "It's in that stack, you'll have to search them." Vince walked over and started sorting through customer invoices. "So how'd the interview go?"

"It went well I suppose. I got the job."

"That's great Shea. Congratulations!"

"Thanks. It's part time with benefits. Always a good thing. It means I'll have to travel for the next few weeks though. While I learn the job."

Dom noticed Vince paused at this. "That's okay. We'll work around your schedule. How long will you have to travel for?"

"The first four months. It'll only be a day or two here or there. I'll be able to let you know. The guy I'll be traveling with will be driving, so I won't have to worry about that." she laughed.

"Oh, they've got you traveling with someone?"

"Yeah, I haven't met him yet. I'll meet him when I start on Monday." Vince obviously found what he needed because he stormed out of the office and slammed the door.

"Should I ask?" Dom asked somberly.

Shea closed her eyes and took a breath. "You probably don't want to. I'm sure that Letty will tell you anyway."

"Ok, so why don't you tell me."

"Between us?"

"Ok."

"Vince and I aren't going to be seeing a lot of each other anymore. At least I don't think we are. We didn't really speak about it, but that's the feeling I'm getting." she shrugged. "I'm pregnant Dom. Which is why this job with benefits comes at the best time. It'll get me out of the way, and he can figure out whatever he needs to figure out."

Dom could only imagine what Vince was going through. "Are you okay?"

"Ya know Dom, I think I'm going to be fine." the quiet confidence in her voice made him feel better.

Vince stood staring at the engine in front of him. She looked amazing. He was so lost. He'd never planned on being a father. Shit, he'd had the worst role model as a father possible. What kind of father would he make? The kid wouldn't stand a chance with him as a parent. Vince was angry. He didn't know if he was angry at Shea, or himself, or God. Things had been going so well with Shea. Almost perfect, and then this. He couldn't bring himself to talk to her. Didn't know what he'd say. Didn't want to say the wrong thing to her. Until he knew what it was he was feeling it would be better to not say anything.

It went that way for a month. Everyone in the house knew Shea was pregnant, and everyone except for Vince spent time with her. She started her new job, and had good things to say about it. She'd gone on several small trips and seemed to have fun with her mentor. She'd gone to the doctor and found out that she'd be having her baby in June, that meant she was three months pregnant. She'd lost weight from it with all of the vomiting, but hopefully that would be settling down as she entered her second trimester.

Letty had picked her up from her house that morning and driven her to the garage. Her partner, Chris was going to be picking her up there and they were driving to Fresno for a Human Resources Conference. Mia and Letty had met Chris once and seemed to think he was a nice guy. He was supposed to be there any minute, and Letty was following Shea out to wait for him.

"Now, remember to take your vitamins, and if you get cold put on your sweater."

"Letty, do you think I'm going to get cold?" Shea asked with some disbelief. She was wearing a tank top and some denim Capri's. "Stop mothering me. I'll be fine." she laughed.

A BMW pulled into the parking lot as Vince and Leon were returning to the garage from lunch. "Oh he's pretty." Leon said, which made Vince laugh. Sounded familiar.

The man who stepped out of the car was good looking in a clean cut way. Sandy blonde hair cut short and sort of spiky on top, he was about 5'11, and not too muscular, but certainly in shape. He had dimples. The man grinned and sped up as he approached the garage doors. They saw that the girls were smiling at the man. He wore gray slacks, and a sage green button down shirt. "You ready little mama?" he asked with a smile.

Vince's eyes narrowed as Shea stepped forward a huge smile on her face. "Yep, ready and accounted for."

"Chris, now it's up to you to make sure she takes her vitamins, and keeps warm. Also make sure she gets plenty of rest. I don't care how badly she wants to go dancing." Letty nagged.

Shea laughed, and Chris smiled bigger. "Yes ma'am. Two dances maximum, and I'll tuck her into bed myself. You have my word." He wiggled his eyebrows causing all three girls to laugh.

"She travels with that guy?" Leon asked incredulously.

Vince's jaw twitched, and he moved up to join the group. "What's so funny?" he asked.

"Hey Vince, Leon, this is Shea's business mentor, Chris." Letty introduced, and then almost swallowed her tongue at the look in Vince's eyes. Oh boy.

Chris smiled at the man. He figured he was pretty sure he knew who Vince was, just from listening to Shea in the past month. He stuck out his hand and Vince shook it. "Nice to meet you." Vince put some extra pressure on Chris's hand, but Chris didn't flinch. "Well, we'd better get going. We have to get there, check into the hotel, and then be at dinner by eight. Nice seeing you ladies again. Vince, Leon, I'm sure I'll see you around."

Shea said goodbye to everyone, and then looked at Vince. God she missed him so much. "Bye Vince." she said softly.

"Be safe Shea." he said just as softly. "How long are you gonna be gone?"

"Three days." Then she turned and walked away. He had to bite his tongue when Chris put his hand on her lower back, and helped her into the passenger side of his car.

"Fuck." 


	22. Chapter 22

Vince sat on the picnic table and stared into nothing. A beer was held in his hand, but was forgotten. He wondered what Shea was doing. Was she hooking up with that Chris guy? The thought filled him with anger and dread. Could he blame her for moving on when he hadn't so much as spoken more than three words to her since she'd told him? In the back of his mind he had thought it best if he slowly slipped from her life. He couldn't be a good father. He wouldn't even know where to begin. He'd never be able to live up to that type of responsibility. God though, he missed her like crazy. Catching small glances of her and trying not to look was becoming too much for him. How would he be able to watch her for the rest of his life and not be with her? The thought of watching her body thicken and her belly swell with his child did strange things to his stomach.

"How ya doin V?" Dom asked and came to sit next to his friend.

"I don't know man."

"Look like shit to me."

Vince laughed wryly. "Yeah, I guess that about sums it up."

"V, we've known each other since third grade. When you gonna talk to me about this?"

Vince looked at Dom and didn't have to ask what he meant. He wouldn't insult Dom's intelligence like that. "I don't know man. I don't know what I'm doin."

"So talk."

"I love Shea. Love almost every little thing about her. She's amazing. I thought everything was going great. Then she told me she was pregnant, and it's like the world turned upside down."

"Yeah."

"You know what my Dad was like Dom. Always drunk, barely there, and when he was there violent to no end. I never want to end up like that. Never want to put a kid through that. Never want to put Shea through that."

"V, you seriously think you'd end up that way?" Dom asked his friend.

Vince shook his head. "I don't know. I don't know if I'd end up that way or not." They sat quietly for a few moments.

"V, there are a few things you aren't taking into consideration." Dom began, and could see that Vince was listening to him. "First off, you are terrified of ending up that way, which will make you more careful not to end up that way. Secondly, man I don't think any of us would ever think you'd hurt a child. Ever. Third, Shea isn't your mom. Shea is nothing like your mom. She wouldn't let that happen. If you moved a toe out of line she'd be kicking your ass. You and I both know that. If Shea for an instant thought that you'd hurt her or your baby she wouldn't have given you the option of being in their lives."

Vince listened to Dom and hope was filling him. Dom was right, Shea wasn't his Mom.

"What you need to decide now V is if you're willing to turn your back and say good bye to Shea, who is probably the best thing to ever happen to you. And are you willing to turn your back on a little Vince, or a little Shea. That's a part of you man. Can you imagine? A small part of you that means your immortality. Can you imagine a better woman than Shea to have your child? Cuz V, that's what you should be thinking about. You shouldn't be worrying about whether you'll drink too much, or whether you'll beat the child. You should be thinking about how you feel for Shea, about how you feel knowing she's having your baby."

Vince ran his hands over his face. He was exhausted.

"Do you want to be a part of Shea's life? Do you want to know your baby?" Dom asked. Then without waiting for Vince's response he patted the other man's shoulder and went back inside.

Vince thought back to the first time he'd seen Shea. Even then there'd been something different about her. Coming into the bar wearing that damn insulting t-shirt. Kicking his ass at pool. Flirting with Hector. Stealing his alcohol. Then he remembered when they'd come home and found that guy attacking her. Just thinking about it filled him with rage. He should have killed that bastard that night… That night. It was the first time he and Shea had been together. He should've known then that she was something different. He had known. Vince hadn't looked at another chaser after that night. Thinking about it he realized he'd never felt violent towards Shea. Never wanted to hurt her. In fact she seemed to calm the anger within him. There was something about her that seemed to soothe him.

What was he doing? Shea was having his baby. She hadn't asked or expected anything from him and instead of giving her the love and care she deserved he'd shut her out. Now he had to find out if she would forgive him. If she didn't then he didn't know where to go from there.

Shea looked out the window of the BMW. They were almost home, and she was exhausted. It had been an interesting conference. She'd gotten some good information out of it. "Penny for your thoughts." Chris asked her.

She smiled at him. He was turning out to be a good friend. "Just thinking about the conference."

"It went pretty well I thought."

"Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking."

"You certainly won a lot of people over." he laughed. So far at every conference or medical building they'd been too by the time they left Shea was well liked. "You look tired."

"I am. I'm beat."

"Well, I'll get you home, and get your stuff inside, and then you can get some sleep." he frowned seeing the tired lines around her mouth. "You didn't eat very much these last few days."

Shea rolled her eyes over to look at him. "Sorry mother."

"Sure, tease all you want, but just to let you know I already called Letty." he told her and grinned smugly when she gaped at him.

Letty sighed for the tenth time in a row. Vince looked at her. "Let, what's the problem?" He figured he'd ask since Dom was currently playing a video game and had tuned everything out.

Letty looked as if she wasn't going to tell him, but then decided to. "Chris called. Said Shea didn't eat very much the past few days, and that she looks very tired and stressed out. I'm worried about her. I think she's doing too much." she hesitated and continued. "The other day I walked in and she was up on a chair changing a light bulb. All she had to do was call us and I could have done it. She shouldn't be up on stuff."

Vince frowned. Then he looked at Letty and the next words out of his mouth filled Letty with hope. "Don't worry Let. I'll talk to her when she gets home tonight." 


	23. Chapter 23

Vince saw the BMW pull into Shea's driveway so he headed down there. He walked slowly, anxiety over what she would say encompassing every step he took. Chris was in the process of removing her bag from the trunk. She'd already headed inside. The man shut the trunk and noticed Vince.

Vince stared at the man in front of him. "How is she?"

Chris thought for a moment before speaking. "Tired. She didn't eat very much this trip. You here to cause her more stress?"

Anger hit Vince, but then he realized that this man might have every right to ask that. "No. Hopefully here to make it better. That gonna be a problem?"

Chris smiled wryly. "Whether or not it's a problem for me really doesn't matter. What matters is whether it's a problem for Shea." Vince nodded in understanding. He understood what the man was telling him. Nothing had happened yet, although he was sure that the other man wanted it to. "I'll let you take her bags in. Make sure she gets some sleep tonight okay?"

Vince nodded once more and took the bag. He headed up to the front door as Chris drove away. He entered the house and found Shea sitting on the couch with her eyes shut, and hands on her belly. "You look tired." he said quietly.

Her eyes opened in surprise. Vince set her bag down and took the chair across from her. "What are you doing here Vince?"

"I was hoping I could talk to you for a few minutes. If you don't feel up to it I'll understand."

"Where's Chris?"

"He gave me your bag and took off."

She nodded. "Okay. So what did you want to talk about?"

"Everything." Vince stood again, suddenly more nervous than before. "You hungry? I could fix you a little something. I heard you hadn't been eatin good this week." Without waiting for an answer he headed into her kitchen. She followed him and sat in a chair at her small breakfast nook. He found some tomato soup in the cupboard and started to fix that.

"Vince, you'll have to forgive me, but this is rather confusing for me." she began. "You've barely spoken to me in the past month, and suddenly you're concerned and fixing me dinner?"

Sighing he turned the stove on low, and turned to face her. "I have so much to say to you, and I honestly don't know where to start…"

"How about at the beginning?" she suggested.

"The night you told me you were pregnant." he decided. "I love you so much, and I thought everything was going so well. Then you told me you were pregnant. And Shea, you have to understand, it's not that I was angry, or anything like that about you being pregnant. I never thought I'd have children. I don't want to end up like my father. I don't want a child to end up like me."

Shea looked at him in disbelief. "You think you'd be your father to your child?"

"I don't know." he told her gruffly and turned back to her soup, stirring it. "But I never thought I'd be willing to take that chance. Plus, it isn't like I've got the best track record when it comes to my past. What kid wants a convict as a dad."

"Vince, if I used that logic, then I should never have children either." she began slowly. When he went to interrupt, she stopped him. "No, let me finish. My father beat the hell out of us when we were kids. My mother put everyone before us, and mentally destroyed us. So, going by your logic, I'm going to beat my kids and psychologically damage them."

"You would never do that Shea." he said strongly.

"Then why do you think you would?"

"Look at us, how often we fight, what if I hurt you one day? What if I hurt our baby?" he said with pain in his voice.

"What if you don't? What if you hurt us more by not being in our lives?"

Vince poured the soup in a bowl and set it in front of her. She took a bite, and he smiled. "Dom and I talked about it a little bit. He made a lot of sense. I can't imagine a more perfect woman than you to be mother to my children Shea." At his words tears filled her eyes. "Maybe I never thought I was gonna have children, but if I am then I'm sure glad that you're the mama. I don't want to be without you Shea, and I do want to know my child. I want you both. I'm sorry I've been an idiot the past month. Will you forgive me Shea? Can you forgive me? Will you give this Ol' Coyote another chance, or is it too late?"

"Vince it isn't a matter of giving you another chance." she said softly. "I hadn't written you off. I told you I'd give you time to decide, and I meant it."

"I thought you and Chris were hookin up." he said not meeting her eyes.

"Chris is just my friend. How could I ever think of him like that when I love you? When I'm carrying your child?" she laughed softly. "Like you could ever be that easy to get over."

He leaned over to her and pushed her hair out of her face. Such a beautiful face it was. "I've missed you so much Baby."

Shea leaned closer to Vince. "I've missed you too Vince."

"I'm not missing any more of you though. No more of you, or our baby. Doctor's appointments, anything you need, I'm gonna be there."

"I'm going to have to go shopping pretty quick."

"What are we getting?" he asked.

"Oh, maternity clothes, nursery stuff, necessary baby items that I won't be able to live without."

He gave her a big smile and it almost melted her. "I'm there. And no more chairs, something needs doing around here you get me."

"Vince. Are you going to kiss me anytime soon?" she asked impatiently. He moved to her quickly after that and kissed her. God, how he'd missed this. Holding her, touching her, kissing her; he was glad that they'd started to get things worked out.

Shea finished eating the soup he'd prepared and he put her to bed. He didn't stay that night; he didn't want to rush her after all the problems they'd just been through. He made sure everything was locked up tight and headed home. It didn't quite feel as at home as he used to at Dom's. When had that changed? He had a feeling it was something else that had grown over time with Shea. When he went to sleep that night it was with a lighter heart than he'd felt in a long time. He did worry though. What if she needed him and he was here? She'd call him wouldn't she? She wouldn't try and do everything on her own? 


	24. Chapter 24

Shea headed into the garage the next afternoon feeling pretty good for the first time in a long time. She'd had trouble buttoning her pants that morning, which meant she'd need to go shopping for maternity clothes pretty quickly. It gave her a little thrill at the thought. She'd never thought she'd have children. Had never thought she'd be able to watch her belly grow with the child of the man she loved. In the end it had worked out better than expected. Shea was having Vince's child.

Her family was over the moon with joy, although her brother had wondered if she was getting married. She'd explained to him that she had no intentions of getting married just because there was a baby on the way. He'd seemed to accept her answer. Rose had giggled with her over the phone telling her to eat and take her vitamins. They were all planning a trip out to see her, and from what she knew Anda was planning on coming with them. Anda had laughed hysterically when she'd found out who the father was. Shea had told her sister how she'd only told Louise she was dating Vince and Leon to save them. Anda had thought that was hilarious. She knew what her mother was like, and could remember the two men practically jumping Shea.

Surprisingly, her father had been excited about her news as well. He hadn't even brought up the whole marriage thing. Which shouldn't be too surprising seeing what type of lifestyle he'd chosen to live in the end. Walker Lane was also speaking of a visit, and the thought made Shea sort of nauseous. She loved her father, but he was a different type of animal all together. She couldn't imagine him and her new friends interacting. It was too surreal. Shea decided to put that aside. He was probably just talking. How many times had he said he was going to come for a visit when she was still living up north. Many, and nothing had come to fruition. Shea was deep in thought when Vince entered the office. She came back to herself when he tapped her shoulder.

"You okay?" he asked in a slightly anxious voice.

She smiled at him. "Sure, I'm good."

"I called your name three times and you didn't answer."

"I'm sorry. I was just thinking about my Dad." she told him honestly. "He's threatening of coming for a visit."

"That good or bad?"

"Not real sure. Dad's shall we say different."

"Yeah, I've noticed you never really talk about him."

"My Dad could be made into a novel, or an extremely long episode of Jerry Springer."

"Interesting."

"Ha, you won't feel that way if he actually comes."

Vince leaned down and kissed her. "Whatever happens you and I will take care of it together. Now, how about when you're done with those invoices we go do some of that shopping you were talking about?"

"That sounds nice." she smiled at him. This was definitely a new Vince. "I hope you aren't always going to be this sweet."

"Oh yeah?" he laughed.

"Yeah, I love my crusty Coyote."

"I'm sure he'll make frequent return trips." he assured her.

They spent the rest of the afternoon shopping, and she was able to pick out some new clothes and some furniture for the baby's room. They picked out a crib, changing table, and bassinet. The two wandered around in the clothing and toy aisles, looking at the different things that were available. Vince seemed to be getting just as excited as she was, but a part of Shea wondered if it was just her imagination and wishful thinking.

"When can we find out what we're having?" he asked her curiously.

"Another few weeks." she said rubbing her belly. Lately she'd felt fluttering and was pretty sure it was the baby. "We need to pick out paint so I can paint the nursery." She told him and headed towards the paint aisle of the department store.

"Maybe we should wait until we know. That way if it's a little girl she doesn't end up with blue, and a boy doesn't end up with pink?" he offered as he stared at the rows upon rows of paint samples.

Shea smiled at him. "Vince. I wouldn't pick blue or pink, so we're safe there."

A girl made her way over to them. She was in tight jeans and a tank top. The girl smiled brilliantly at Vince, and walked directly up to him planting her lips on his. Shea's eyes widened. "Hi Vince." The girl managed to breathe out when she came up for air.

Vince peeled the girl off of him. "Um, hi Sheila." He moved to Shea and put his arm around her waist.

The girl frowned slightly, but then perked up. "What are you doing here?"

"We're shopping for our baby." he told her pointedly.

"You're having a baby?" she asked incredulously. "With her?"

"Yep," he answered smugly. "Shea and I are going to be parents in about five and a half months."

"Congratulations I guess." she muttered.

"Thanks, we're pretty pleased." he told her.

"I can't believe you were able to trap Vince into being with you." she told Shea snidely.

Vince frowned. "There was no trapping involved Sheila. I love Shea, and we're having a baby."

Shea smiled pleasantly. "If Vince didn't want me or the baby he could leave at any time. I would never expect him to stay with me for that."

"Uh huh."

"I'm not with Shea for the baby Sheila. Our baby is just the added bonus." he said softly meeting Shea's eyes and not looking away. Shea saw he meant it and leaned in for a kiss. Vince met her halfway, and wrapped his strong arms around her waist. He took great care not to squish her middle. Sheila walked away from them in disgust. "Sorry about that." he muttered looking partly ashamed.

"Vince, we all have our skeletons." she told him softly. "You should see some of my exes." 


	25. Chapter 25

Shea sighed as she stared out the window of the shop. She was becoming a whale; a huge, fat, ugly whale. She'd been feeling morose all day, and felt like bursting into tears. It was Thursday afternoon and she'd already put in her hours at the hospital for the week which meant she'd have the next few days off. The department store had finally delivered the baby furniture the week before and Vince had spent the past weekend with the other guys putting it together. Then they'd painted the room a pale yellow with all sorts of different teddy bears marching around the walls. Everything was coming together perfectly so she didn't really know why she was so emotional. Well duh, she thought with a snort. Of course you're emotional, you're pregnant you idiot.

Everyone was being wonderful, but she missed Kell. She'd tried to call her best friend earlier in the day and hadn't been able to reach her. Which sucked. Shea took a deep breath and went back to working on the books. It seemed like every time she left it for a few days the bookkeeping imps would come in and make a mess of everything. Unfortunately, she was pretty sure these imps had names like Dom, Jesse, and Brian. All the men were brilliant, but when it came to the accounting it was like trying to teach monkeys to spell – you could probably do it eventually, but it would take years.

Shea looked at the clock and was surprised to see it was already five thirty. Uh oh, she'd promised Vince she'd be home by five thirty. Oops. She sighed and closed the books. She'd finish them on Monday. Shea was almost to her car when her cell phone rang. It seemed everyone else had headed home early for the day. The only person there was Dom and he looked to be heading home as well. "Drive safe Shea." He told her as he locked the door after her.

Shea looked to see if he was grinning, but he wasn't. "I will." She sighed and took out her phone. "Hello?"

"Hey Babe, I take it you're just now leaving?"

"Sorry."

"It's okay. Do me a favor though; meet me at the house before you go home?"

"Okay." She said frowning. Dom walked up to her as soon as she'd hung up.

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah, just a little tired. Guess I'm stopping by your house first."

"Oh yeah, we got you a little something and wanted to give it to you tonight." Dom said with a grin.

"Dom," Shea protested. "You guys didn't need to get me anything."

"Now, Shea, just accept the present when you get it. We love you." He squeezed her shoulder. "You wanna give me a ride. I'll just ride in with Let tomorrow."

They got to his house and headed in with Dom in the lead. "Yo V!" he called out. "We're here."

Vince walked out of the kitchen and scooped Shea into a kiss. "Hey Babe." He whispered.

Shea smiled. "Hey." This felt good. Being here this way with Vince. It felt right.

"I want you to close your eyes and come with me, okay?" he told her and looked pretty excited. "We have a surprise for you in the kitchen."

"Okay." Shea was curious. What could they have possibly gotten her? Ooh, maybe it was that butter colored layette set. She'd absolutely loved it and it would work for either boy or girl. Cautiously he led her into the kitchen making sure she didn't bump into anything. Almost immediately she heard Letty and Mia giggling.

"Open your eyes Shea." Vince whispered.

Shea opened her eyes and started bawling. There standing in front of her was her best friend. "Kelly, what the hell are you doing here?" she squealed before launching herself at the girl.

Kell laughed. "I'm here to see your ass!" she answered. She was crying and hugging Shea back enthusiastically. "Vince called me and told me he thought you needed a pick me up. So here I am. How's my future niece or nephew?" she asked placing her hand on Shea's belly.

"Good. Oh, I'm wonderful now." Shea made sure to kiss everyone in the kitchen. "You guys are amazing. I had no idea. This is the best present ever."

Vince looked pretty pleased with himself. "Tell her the rest." He ordered Kell.

Kell took a deep breath, "Well, I'm doing what I always said I'd never do… I'm taking the Bar Exam for California. If I pass it I'm moving here."

Shea was in shock. "What? But what about your family? Your job? You always said you'd never leave Texas!" Shea looked at her petite friend. Kell was only 5'2" with long glossy black hair. She was originally from India, and was a pretty girl with her dark skin and shining brown eyes.

"My mother actually pointed out to me that I was missing out on a lot by staying there and doing nothing but working. If I'm here, well, you won't let me work constantly and not have any fun." Kell grinned. "Now I just have to pass the exam. California is the second hardest state for that test you know?"

"You'll ace it." Shea assured her.

"Well, I don't take it until next week, so in the meantime, let's have a good time."

"We thought we'd go to Sins tonight if you're feeling up to it?" Vince added.

Shea smiled. "That sounds like a lot of fun." She hugged Kell again.

"Oh Shea, look at your belly." Kell smiled and rubbed Shea's protruding tummy.

"It would so awesome having you here Kell." Shea said a bit mistily.

"No crying. Let's just hope for the best."

By the time they got to Sins the women were giggling. Mia and Kell had hit it off right away, and Letty, though reserved, found herself warming up to the woman as well. They had been there half an hour when Hector and Edwin found them. "Aye Mami, you are looking fine tonight." Hector leaned in and kissed Shea's cheek.

"Hector, you sly dog you." Shea teased. "I want you to meet Kell. My closest friend in the world."

Hector grinned at the short girl. "Well hello there chiquita." He gave her a lecherous look.

Kell's eyes widened and she looked at Shea. "This hasGOT to the hornball."

Leon started laughing, and Hector just grinned wryly. "It looks like my reputation proceeds me. Shea, mami, if you keep giving me away, how am I ever supposed to score with the ladies?"

Shea pinched his cheek. "Hector, you have a perfectly lovely girlfriend. Where is Carlotta by the way?"

"She's coming." He said with a big smile. "She had to drop off her sister first."

They spent the rest of the evening shooting pool, dancing, and reminiscing. By the time they got home for the evening Shea was exhausted. She got Kell settled into the spare room and then padded into her room to find Vince already pulling back the covers. She leaned against the doorjam watching him. "So, I suppose you're staying here tonight?" she asked her mouth turning up into a small smile.

"That okay?" he asked not looking up.

"It's more than okay." She told him softly. "I love it when you stay with me." He'd been staying over more and more in the last few weeks. It was almost like they hadn't been apart for that month.

"You do?"

"Yep. It's nice going to sleep with you, and then waking up with you."

"I just don't want to get in your way."

Shea smiled at the big lug. "You doofus. You could never get in my way. Hell, you could move in tomorrow and I'd love every minute of it." Her heart caught in her throat, she didn't want him to think she was pushing him for more of a commitment.

"Serious?" he grinned. When she nodded he kissed her again. "I'd love to move in with you Shea."

"Really?" she whispered, slightly stunned.

"Yep. I'll start tomorrow."

Vince was true to his word and got his belongings moved in quickly. Shea was surprised how easy it was to live with him. When she and Rick had moved in together it had been a battle from the start. True it had only been a few days with Vince, but so far so good. She also loved having Kell there. The test was coming up, and her friend was getting nervous, but Shea knew she'd do well.

The travel portion of her job ended and she was kept at the hospital for work, which she was glad for. The traveling had been getting old, even if she did get to hang out with Chris.

The day Kell took the test Shea was just as nervous as her friend taking it. They took her out to celebrate and Shea watched as Kell got easily schnockered. Kell was heading back to Houston that weekend. Shea would really miss her, but hopefully the results of the exam would come back positive and Kell would be moving there. She couldn't wait. It almost felt like she'd have everything she could want; Vince, the baby, the house, Kell, and all of her other friends. It felt like the world was on its way to being an almost perfect place.

With help from Vince they got Kell tucked in and headed to their room. The message light was flashing on her answering machine. While Vince was stripping down she pressed play. _"Hey baby girl. Just calling to check in on you and my grandbaby. Sorry to catch you out. I wanted to give you some exciting news."_ The man leaving the message chuckled. Vince noticed that Shea was standing very still next to the phone so he walked over to her. _"Missy and I are coming for a visit baby! Isn't that great? We can't wait to see you, and rub your belly, and meet your guy. Love you sweets."_

"Shea, you okay babe?"

Shea turned and looked at Vince with a horror filled face. "Good lord Vince, my FATHER is coming to visit!"


	26. Chapter 26

Vince moved quickly helping Shea to the bed. "Take deep breaths Baby, deep breaths."

"Oh my god. I can't believe it. I always thought he'd just threaten a lot. I didn't think he'd actually follow through."

"Shea, for god's sakes, calm down. It can't be that bad. We survived through Louise."

"I know, I know, and I don't want to come off as if I don't love him, and sure I'll be glad to see him, but he'll probably bring Missy with him. Missy is a nice enough lady, but dumb. And when I say dumb, I mean DUMB. She'll drive everyone crazy. She takes great care with my Dad, but she's mental. He's mental too, which is probably why they're a perfect match."

"Okay, calm down and tell me why him coming to visit is a bad thing."

"Well, it's not exactly a bad thing. It's more of a scary thing." She said taking deep breaths. "Look, remember how I said he used to be abusive?" At his nod she continued. "Okay, well, I can say that we've put that all behind us, and I'm telling the truth. He isn't violent anymore, but Dad, well, he likes to be in control… A lot. Half the reason Rick and I moved in together was so that I wouldn't be living under Dad's roof any more. We butt heads a lot. At least we used to."

"Well, maybe he's mellowed a bit. When was the last time you saw him?"

"When I went home for Kell's sister's graduation. That was two years ago. We talk on the phone occasionally."

"Didn't you say your Dad's sick now?" Vince was absently rubbing her back. Shea felt herself getting drowsy and laid back on the bed. Vince laid on his side and began rubbing her belly.

"Yeah. His autonomic system is shutting down. That's the system that regulates his blood pressure. He also has diabetes, glaucoma, gout, and a heart condition. He hasn't taken great care of his body, but some of that stuff is attributed to Agent Orange from the Vietnam War. My Dad was a marine for eight years. To hear him tell it, once a marine, always a marine. That was something else I never heard the end of growing up. Marines this, marines that. Don't misunderstand, I'm very pro military, hey they keep us safe, but the way Dad talked was almost fanatical."

Vince loved feeling the fluttering under his hand. His baby letting him know he or she was in there. "Don't worry about it Baby, we'll make sure everything goes smoothly, and your dad will have a great time."

Shea sighed. "I'm sure those were someone's famous last words." She muttered.

Shea was eight and a half months pregnant by the time her father's trip plans were finalized. She was restricted from work, and wasn't allowed to drive, but everything was looking good. So far the baby hadn't cooperated and they hadn't been able to tell gender. She'd just managed to waddle into her kitchen to get a glass of water when the doorbell rang. She knew it was her Dad. Vince was already moving out to meet her as she headed towards the door.

Opening it she saw her father sitting in a wheelchair. Good grief, the man looked like he'd just made a sequel to that Born on the Fourth of July movie. His hair was shaggy and past his shoulders, he'd grown out a full beard, and he'd lost a lot of weight. Behind him stood her stepmother Missy, and Missy's daughter Elyssa. Shea bent and hugged each one as well as she could manage and then moved to let everyone in. "You look radiant." Missy gushed.

"Thanks Missy. You all look good too." Shea smiled and reminded herself to be kind. As soon as everyone was settled in the living room Shea introduced Vince. He shook her Dad's hand, Missy hugged him, and Elyssa shook his hand.

Vince had finally started to feel a little nervous. He'd pictured her dad differently.

"So, Shea tells us you're a mechanic?" Missy asked brightly.

"Yes ma'am, I work in a shop owned by my best friend."

"Dom's more like your brother." Shea smiled at him.

"Yeah, we've been friends for a real long time." He returned her smile.

"I used to fix helicopters when I was in Vietnam." Walker told him.

"Yes sir, Shea told me how here daddy was in the marine corp." Vince pushed his attention back to Walker. "She's real proud."

"So, when is this baby due?" Missy wanted to know as she waved off all military talk.

Shea beamed. "Two weeks until the due date."

"So far the baby hasn't been working with us, so we don't know what the sex is yet."

"Well, son, if you don't know what sex is yet, I gotta wonder how my little girl ended up pregnant." Walker stated with a grin and started chuckling.

Shea and Vince sat in shocked silence, and then Vince began laughing hysterically.

They got together for a barbeque at the team's house that evening. Her father was in his element surrounded by all of the men and telling stories. Everyone seemed to be having a good time so she didn't worry too much. Even her dad seemed to be on good behavior. At least she thought so until she approached and heard part of his conversation.

"She was always a good eater. Not like her brother at all, it was impossible to get him to eat. But Shea would eat anything we gave her. I called her my little Shea-pig, or piglet. She didn't mind it so much when she was little but she hated it when she was older."

"Dad!" Shea scolded. "I'm sure they don't want to know my nicknames growing up."

"Oh, but we do." Leon waggled his eyebrows at her.

"One of the funniest times," her father continued, paying no attention to his oldest daughter. "Was when Shea was in second grade. We went to her class's open house. The little book about me was in her spot and she put that when she grew up she wanted to be a cocktail waitress."

Letty grinned. "Such high aspirations even as a seven year old."

"Stuff it." Shea told her friend with a smile. "It looked cool, and all of those women looked beautiful." She took a seat between her father and Vince, and let out a small groan. She winced as she felt little feet kicking into her ribs. "Pumpkin here is gonna either be a kicker for a football team, or play some mean soccer."

Elyssa stared at Shea's belly enthusiastically. Elyssa was fifteen years old. Shea loved the kid but they weren't close like she and Anda. Mainly because her father and Elyssa's mother lived down south so she didn't see her all the time. "Have you picked out any names?" the younger girl asked.

Vince smiled at the girl. "Well, we decided on Vincent Walker De Laurio if it's a boy, and for a girl we chose Nora Suzanne De Laurio."

Her father seemed extremely pleased and sat straighter in his chair. Shea smiled. "Suzanne was Vince's mom's name."

"They both sound good." Missy chirped. "I really like Nora."

Vince had stood and pulled a small foot rest over for Shea, who put her feet up immediately. His hand moved automatically to caress her belly. "It was Shea's idea, but I think it's real pretty. If we have a boy this time, maybe next time we'll have a girl and we can use it then." His words caused Shea's head to spin towards him, and the team went silent. Dom was the first to look away and smile.

Later in bed that night, after getting her family put in bed for the night Shea lay staring at the ceiling. "Did you mean it? What you said about having more babies?"

Vince started kissing her swollen belly. "I sure did. I think we should have lots of the little cubs."

"Cubs?"

"Well, I am a Coyote." He grinned.


	27. Chapter 27

Shea was only slightly surprised when her father announced that he and Missy had plans the next day. She just shrugged and told them to have a good time. The girls were taking Elyssa shopping while the men worked. They moved around the mall at a slow pace so that Shea didn't have to rush, and occasionally Letty would snicker earning a look from the heavily pregnant woman. After what was considered a successful shopping excursion the group headed home and Shea finally got to sit and put her feet up. They hadn't heard anything from Walker or Missy so they made dinner at the Toretto home and ate leisurely.

About nine o'clock her cell phone rang and she answered expecting to hear her father's voice. She was disappointed, and was going to tease him until she finally absorbed what he was telling her. "You're where?" she practically shouted in disbelief.

Two minutes later Shea had hung up the phone, asked Mia to watch Elyssa, and was dragging Vince out the door while muttering.

"Where we going Gorgeous?" he asked her as he caught the look on her face.

"To the police station. It appears my father and Missy were arrested at the park earlier today." she snapped.

"Arrested?" Vince was baffled. "What the hell could he do to get arrested?"

"It seems that he and Missy were meeting with some other 'witches' and decided to go 'sky-clad' in the park for their 'circle'."

"I have no idea what you're sayin."

"Dad and Missy met with some other people in the park to have their little group meeting, and they all stripped down to nothing and ran around the park." Shea explained. "He was arrested for indecent exposure."

"Holy shit!"

"Exactly." Shea sighed. "I just hope they've gotten his clothes back on him."

There was silence in the car and then she heard a slight snicker. She looked over to see Vince trying unsuccessfully to hide a smile. She shook her head in disgust.

"Well, you did say it wouldn't be boring with your Dad around." Vince said, finally in control.

"Whatever." Shea was tired. It had been a long day, and this was just an auspicious end to it. The man was nuts. Certifiable. To disrobe in a public park? What had he been thinking? "Let's just get this done. My back hurts like a bitch. My feet hurt, and I'm now crabby."

Vince parked the car and leaned over to kiss her forehead. "Poor baby."

The two made their way up to the reception desk where an officer was going through some paperwork. "I'm here to pick up Walker and Missy Lane." she said tiredly.

The officer took a moment to flip through his papers and then handed two to her to sign. He couldn't hide the small smirk that played across his face. "Hey Gonzalez? Bring out the last two indecents."

Shea had just signed the last paper when she felt a twinge and a gush of fluid streamed down her legs. She looked at Vince in shock. "Oh my god, my water just broke!"

At her words the officer behind the desk went white as a sheet and picked up the phone to call an ambulance. Walker and Missy had just made their way sheepishly from the back and Vince handed Missy his keys without thinking. "Her bag is in the car." he said nervously.

The ambulance arrived quickly and got her loaded safe and sound. Vince sat beside her as she gripped his hand tightly. "Why didn't you tell me you were having contractions?"

"I just thought it was my back hurting." she told him "It doesn't feel like contractions."

"Okay, okay, we just have to stay calm." Vince muttered. "Calm, just stay calm." The EMT was looking at Vince with a smile.

"Sir, you have to breathe or you're going to pass out."

Vince was nodding. "Right, of course, I knew that."

"V, relax, it doesn't hurt." Shea told him calmly.

Once at the hospital they wheeled her into the maternity ward and into the room she'd have the baby in. Her doctor came in shortly after. "Well Shea, it appears we're having a baby today."

"It's not too early?" she asked worriedly.

"No, less than two weeks, so not too bad. And you're fully dilated."

"I am? But it didn't hurt more than a normal backache?"

The doctor smiled. "You're a lucky one then, aren't you?"

Shea smiled. "Let's get this show on the road."

Everyone waited patiently in the waiting room. Walker had called them from the car, and they'd arrived shortly thereafter. Only two hours had passed when a nurse came out and asked who was there to see the De Laurio baby. The group had followed her to the maternity room that was decorated like a hotel suite. Once inside they saw Shea asleep, and Vince standing over a small bassinet which held a small infant. He looked up at them and tears were still streaming down his face.

"I have a son." he told them. "We have a son." Vince very carefully scooped his son up into his arms and cuddled him close.

Shea's eyes opened sleepily. "He's as handsome as his Daddy." she murmured.

Letty moved over to the groggy Shea. "You okay chica?"

"Yeah. The birth wasn't difficult, but I lost some blood so they gave me some drugs."

"Vincent Walker De Laurio." Dom murmured staring at the tiny fingers and toes that peeked out at him. "He's perfect V."

"Yeah he is." Vince moved over to where Shea lay in bed. He leaned down and kissed her softly, and then kissed his baby boy. "Everything is just perfect."


End file.
